Twinite
by webidolchiu94
Summary: A new girl moves to Death City after the death of both her parents, where she meets the mysterious boy Soul. He, is a weapon whom no Meister can wield, and she has a big secret that she'd rather keep quiet to fulfill her dream. What will happen now?
1. Preface

_**Okay, I know, a lot of you are cursing my very existence right now, but I had this idea, and my OC for my other fic sounded so perfect for this crossover, and well, it's complicated. Don't get too worked up until the first real chapter, because I really wanted to keep eight stories, but sadly the ideas won't stop flowing so I had to do this…. Onwards! **_

_**~Webidolchiu94**_

Preface

I'd never really given much thought as to specifically how I'd die—though in truth I'd had more than enough reason in the past four months. But even if I had, even with my overactive imagination, I could never have thought it would end in this way. Not anything could have prepared me for _this_, that's for sure.

Without breathing, I stared across the long, dark room, into the livid blue eyes of my opponent, and he gave me a sadistic grin.

Well, I guess it _was _a good way to die, going out with a bang, kicking and screaming; fighting for something true, protecting someone else, someone I loved more than even myself. Noble, perhaps was the right term? **That** ought to add to my few good deed I had under my belt. Shouldn't that count for something?

Yet, I knew for certain that if I'd never went to live in Death City, I probably would have faced death a long time ago. But, frightened as I was, I couldn't regret any of my decisions that lead me to this showdown. When life offers you a fantastical dream above and even beyond any previous expectations, grieving when it eventually ends is pointless.

My opponent stretched his smile wide, in almost a friendly way as he lunged forward to slaughter me and devour my soul whole.


	2. Chapter 1

_**Hello. Wow, alerts, review and favorites already? Never thought I'd get so many people read this when I only put up the preface. Two whole comments so far, and it's boosted my confidence through the roof. It's an honor, fanfiction community, especially since you guys seem to like it. As you may have guessed, it's not Bella narrating, and seeing as most fans I know hate the cannon Mary Sue, she's not in this. Of **__**course**__**, neither is perfectly sparkly Eddy either. **_

_**Truthfully I'm just testing the waters here, improving upon the prose of Twilight using cannon characters (and also kind of plot) from Soul Eater. So, of course, it's a whacky messed up mash up of plots starring a main character OC that my acquaintances here online seem to like…I think. This is kind of a first for me to write a Twilight fanfic, so please bear with me. Hopefully, as one reviewer said, this will not turn into an annoying Mary Sue story. Well, not annoying per say, I actually enjoy a well-written Mary Sue, but others dislike them, so I try not to write those types of stories. **_

_**~ Love, Webidolchiu94**_

* * *

Twinite- Table of Contents

Preface

1. First Sight- Will I become a Meister?

2. Open Book- That Strange Boy is a Scythe!

3. Phenomenon- We can't be compatible

4. Invitations- Us vs. Stein, who will win?

5. Blood Type- I have to keep it secret

6. Scary Stories- Rumors about My Brother?

7. Nightmare- In Italy Was My Mistake

8. Las Vegas- A Weapon Never Leaves His Partner?

9. Theory- He knows...what do I do?

10. Interrogations- Making More Time for us both

11. Complications- Everyone Sees Us Together!

12. Balancing- Symmetry is everything?

13. Confessions- Tell him the whole truth?

14. Mind Over Matter- Fight the Immortal!

15. The Evanses- Soul's Family, Revealed?

16. Cade- His father has a secret too...

17. The Game- I hate basketball

18. The Hunt- William's Pursuit?

19. Goodbyes- Trying to keep calm

20. Impatience- Medusa's Big Plan

21. Soul Call- The Kishin Revives?

22. Hide and Seek- Fight between Gods!

23. The Angel- Who is that?

24. An Impasse- "Forever with your soul"?

Epilogue- An occasion

* * *

1. First Sight- Will I become a Meister? 

My aunt drove me to the local airport with the windows rolled up all the way. It hovered around five degrees (Celsius) in New Hevan, the sky hung over us remained murky, cloudy, and grey. I was wearing my favorite winter coat — cozy, ebony faux fur; I wore it as a farewell gesture. My carry-on item was a copy of _Yen+_ magazine.

Even though everything was changing so quickly around me, it only felt like time was slowing to a halt. Maybe it was just the shock of it all, seeing them like that, unmoving, lifeless. I was lucky to have even stayed alive; I merely watched the gory scene as the witch uttered two words that make goose-bumps rise on my skin every time I replay the memory.

…

"Vector Arrow."

Her voice had been barely above a whisper in the still night air. I remembered clearly, trying to warn them, but it would have been no use, the spell left no means of escape. Several dark ribbons with arrow heads on them, glowing purple, shot across the room from behind the witch. Mum tried spinning her Weapon around, blocking most of them, but one found an opening. It sliced into her shoulder, spraying red everywhere. She dropped the scythe in her hands, struggling to stand. With a blue flash of light, my father, the scythe, transformed back into a human, and tried steady her on her feet.

"Run, Sarah," he told me. "Go." The magical vectors had damaged him, even in his Weapon form, and there were deep cuts all over him. On the floor behind them I was paralyzed, not able to run even if I wanted to.

…

Question was, how did I survive? I'm not sure myself, it shifts after that, everything becomes blurry and I can't remember what happened.

The school counselor said I was adjusting to the situation well, though.

"You'll forget about it soon enough," assured the most insensitive man I'd ever spoken to. I had sat there, pissed that he even mentioned forgetting my parents. I can still see his expression ten seconds after that, broken clipboard hanging from his hands in front of him limply. Good thing Mr. Pembroke had good reflexes and had used it as a shield. Jerk.

So now, two weeks after the funeral I was alone in a car with my Aunt Kami, heading to the middle of nowhere.

Auntie doesn't look anything like me, not even remotely; she's got long honey blonde hair and big, glittery jade eyes. After her divorce with Uncle Spirit and my parents' subsequent death, she rushed over from Switzerland to try and take care of me. But after a week of her "comfort" I couldn't bear it anymore. All I've ever wanted was to be like my mum and become a great Meister, but there I was, stagnating in my home. My brothers had mysteriously gone missing, AND before they did, Dad was debating whether or not to even send me to the Academy.

"Sarah," my aunt said to me — the last of a handful of times — before I got on the plane. "You don't _have_ to do this."  
Of course I did, actually. Kami couldn't take care of me forever, especially not with her constant travelling.

"I want to go," I lied. I'm not so good at lying, but it wasn't entirely an untruth. I wanted to be a Meister; I just didn't want to go to the middle of nowhere. Couldn't they have built the darned school somewhere other than a dessert? I loved New Hevan. I adored the snow and the blistering cold...

"Tell Spirit and Maka I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon," she assured me. "You can come home whenever you want; I'll come right back as soon as you need me."  
Behind the promise I could see the sacrifice in her eyes.

I looked away, guilt stabbing my heart. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Love you, Auntie." She hugged me lightly for a few seconds, and then I boarded the plane and I was gone.

I can't believe I was leaving after so many years, but I guess it couldn't be helped. My stomach bubbled as the plane ascended, mashing me into the seat. America, of all places I was being sent. Don't misunderstand me, I didn't dislike the country personally, but it was the specific region I was going.

Nevada. I was going to Nevada, into the middle of the desert where I'd most likely die of heat stroke the second I stepped out of the air-conditioned cabin of the plane. My chances only doubled because of the specific metropolis I was to reside: Death City.

Irony, what a funny chick, don't invite her to parties.

Located in the middle of the Black Rock Desert, Death City is under a constant flood of sunshine and wind, a deserted wasteland of dust and tumbleweed. My reasons for going were not entirely my own, even if I was wanting to in the first place. Recently, (as I may have mentioned) I had the misfortune of having both my parents murdered. And here I am, an orphan banished to live with strange relatives I'd scarcely met before.

It's a one to two hour flight from New Hevan to London, another eight hours in a second plane to New York City, a final connecting flight from New York to Las Vegas, and then a two or three hour drive to Death City. Flying hardly bothers me, but the time I would spend in the car with Spirit though, I worried about.

Spirit had sounded pretty content about the whole arrangement. Even better, over the phone he seemed actually excited that I was flying there to live with him and Maka. I don't know how _she _felt about all of this, but Spirit told me that she'd filled out my paperwork to enroll at the DWMA.

When I landed in Las Vegas, it was bright and sunny, and the air was so dry it could dehydrate fruit. I didn't consider it an omen—just an unavoidable fact. I'd already bid farewell to my beloved snow and his older brother sleet.

Outside the overcrowded airport was Spirit, waiting for me with the cruiser-another thing I expected also. Spirit is a Death Scythe, personal weapon to Lord Death himself. Basically he stays within the vicinity of the city near his Meister, but since he's the strongest Weapon in town he acts as chief of police.

Uncle Spirit gave me an awkward tackle of a hug when I stumbled my way off the plane. "It's good to see you, Sarah!" he squealed, goofy grin never fading from his face. I grimaced at the unwanted PDA as I automatically caught and steadied myself. "My darling niece, you haven't changed much, how's Kami?"

"Auntie's fine. It's good to see you too, Uncle Death Scythe." I wasn't allowed to address him by his first name at all.

Rule one: Never call a Death Scythe by name unless given permission, especially if he works right beside Lord Death. There were other Death Scythes, but their weapon forms weren't actually scythes, and Uncle Spirit was the only one who fit the description of being a true "Death Scythe." My dream, (if it ever would to be fulfilled), was to create a Death Scythe even stronger than either my Uncle or Papa, and it was there at the Academy I could accomplish this task.

I had only a few bags; my summer wardrobe was scanty, but in the end it didn't really matter, I'd decided I would wear the DWMA's official school uniform. It was optional, not mandatory, but if it saved me some money in the long-run, even better.

"Do you remember me or Maka much?"

I shook my head; his question had shattered my daydream into splinters. Maka was my older cousin by nearly two years, and I hadn't seen her since I was three. Somehow I couldn't picture her face at all.

"No."

"You used to go camping with us during the summer,"' he urged, looking almost stricken.

Now that would explain why I couldn't remember either of them. I do a pretty decent job of removing painful, monotonous events from my memory.

"Well her weapon blood never did awaken, so she's a Meister now," Spirit continued pridefully when I didn't respond, "and she doesn't have a Weapon, but she's top of her class at everything."

Of course, she was probably the stereotypical Mary Sue; I bet she was absolutely gorgeous above everything else.

"Really?" I said, reading my copy of _Yen+_ for what felt like an eon. "What's she like? Is she popular? What sort of girl is she?" Either way I didn't really care, but at least I was making an effort at small-talk. I could see out the corner of my eye that from his change of expression and posture, these were questions he was praying I didn't ask...

"Well~," he drawled, "Maka's pretty reserved at times, keeps to herself."

Good. Usually I was the same way, and hopefully she'd keep her distance.

"But she does have friends, I know that much. She's al3ways studying, or reading novels."

She was both a bookworm and a nerd, how fun. I enjoyed reading but graphic novels were more of my passion; fantasy or Sci-Fi genres of any type of novel were good, but romance was something I shunned a long time ago.

Leafing through another page I looked up and sighed. "I see," mumbled my mouth.

"Nothing," I told him. We exchanged a few idle comments upon the day's weather, how it was hot, and that pretty much summed up Conversation 101. I kept silent and stared into my copy of Yen+ even harder.

Eventually we made it to Spirit's. He lived in a medium, four-bedroom apartment that he'd bought with my aunt in their early days of marriage. They'd stayed together for about fourteen years, but one day my aunt had decided that she wasn't going to deal with his cheating anymore and she left.

It only took two trips to get my stuff upstairs to the second story, considering that I insisted on doing it all by myself. I got to stay in the west bedroom over the playground in the apartment complex. The room wasn't at all familiar, it looked vacant not until recently. The wooden floor, light lemon walls, sloped ceiling, sheer white curtains around the window-these were things that were probably a part of Maka's childhood, not mine. In the corner was a tiny desk that seemed to be falling apart as I spoke. On it was a secondhand computer with a phone line for the modem, I didn't need it—thank goodness for my twelfth birthday, I'd gotten a MacBook. There was only one small bathroom at the end of the hall, which I would have to share with two people. I was trying not to think so much about that.

One of the worst things about Spirit is that hovers, like some kind of obsessive parental helicopter. Auntie Kami would have left me alone to unpack and get settled, a feat altogether impossible for my uncle. It was only made worse by the fact that I had to smile and look pleased until it was time to go to bed.

Death Weapon Meister Academy had a frightening total of over 8, 427 — now twenty-eight — students; there were less than three hundred people in my A-level lessons alone back home. All of the kids there had grown up together — their grandparents had been toddlers together. Not here, not with that many students.

Nevertheless, arriving in the middle of the first semester, I would be the new girl from a small town, a curiosity, a freak.  
Maybe if I looked like a girl from Europe should, I could work this to my advantage. But physically, I'd never fit in anywhere. I should be sociable, fair-skinned, have an accent—something other than what I was.

Instead, I was dark-skinned, without even the excuse of blue eyes or red hair, which should have made me look at least a little more exotic. I had always been thin, but curved somehow, not _exactly_ an athlete; I didn't have the necessary hand-eye coordination do _simple_ activities such as walking without humiliating myself — or harming both myself and anyone else who stood too close. If it was sports, then I was fine, otherwise I was a clumsy oaf. If you challenged me to a footrace, expect to be thoroughly trounced. It's a really weird contradiction, but I didn't argue with it.

When I finished putting my clothes in the old oak dresser, I took my bag of bathroom necessities and went to the communal bathroom to clean myself up after the day of travel. I looked at my face in the mirror as I brushed through my tangled, damp hair. Maybe it was the light, but already I looked darker, most likely from my recent trek through the sun. My skin _could_ be pretty — but it all depended on color. I had too much. Well, at least I thought so. Facing my reflection in the mirror, I was forced to admit that I was lying to myself. It wasn't just physically that I'd never fit in. And if I couldn't find a niche in a school with a thousand people, what were my chances here?

I never relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I don't relate well to people, period. Sometimes I wonder I was see the same things through my eyes that the rest of the world sees through theirs. Maybe there was a glitch in my brain. But the cause didn't matter. All that mattered was the overall effect.

And tomorrow would be just the beginning of the madness you call high school.

I didn't sleep well that night, even after I was done crying. The constant whooshing of the wind across the roof wouldn't fade into the background. I pulled the quilt over my head, later even adding a pillow, too. But I couldn't fall asleep until after midnight, when it finally began to rain, and I was reminded of home.

.

Blue skies were all I could see out my window in the morning, and I could feel the agoraphobia creeping up on me. You could always see the sky here; it was like a falling into an endless pit.

Breakfast with Spirit was a quiet event; he wished me good luck at school. I thanked him, knowing his hope was wasted. Good luck tended to avoid me. Uncle Spirit left first, off to the Death Room to meet Lord Death.

I didn't want to be too early to school, but I couldn't stay in the house anymore. I donned my book bag — which had the feel of hiking pack — and headed out into the sun. Maka had left before me, just as soon as she finished her breakfast, so I never got to see her face.

It was just sunny still, not enough to burn me through immediately as I reached for the house key that was always hidden under the eaves by the door, and locked up. The sloshing of my new waterproof boots was unnerving. I missed the normal crunch of gravel as I walked.

Finding the school wasn't difficult, though I'd never been there before. Unlike most other things, the school was in the middle of the city. It wasn't all that obvious that it was a school; only the sign, which declared it to be Death Weapon Meister Academy, made me stop. It looked like the set of a Tim Burton movie, built with giant beige bricks. There were no shrubs or trees surrounding it, and its size astonished me. It was like a castle for some enthusiastic Goth.

Where was the school-type feel? I wondered nostalgically. Where were the chain-link fences or even metal detectors? _Then again, _I thought, _Weapons would set them off, and maybe it was good there are no metal detectors_. I hopped up the steps quickly and jogged across a stony commons area. Near one side of the main building there hung a small sign over the door reading "front office". I decided I would get directions inside instead of pacing around outside like some idiot. I took a deep breath to steel myself before opening the door.

Inside it was brightly lit, and warmer and more humid than I'd hoped. The office was small; a little waiting area with padded folding chairs, brown-flecked commercial carpet, notices and awards cluttering the walls, a big clock ticking loudly. The room was cut in half by a long counter, cluttered with wire baskets full of papers and brightly colored fliers taped to its front. There were three desks behind the counter, one of which was manned by a large, green-haired woman wearing spectacles. She was wearing a ruffled cream colored dress shirt, which made me feel completely under-dressed.

Looking bored, the green-haired woman looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Sarah Albarn," I told her quietly, and saw awareness immediately brighten her eyes. I was expected, a hot topic of gossip no doubt. (Though, I highly doubted _that._)Daughter of Death Scythe's recently deceased older brother, come home at last.

"Of course," she said in a nasally tone. She dug through a precariously stacked pile of documents on her desk till she found the ones she was looking for. "I have your schedule right here, and a map of the school." She brought several neon colored sheets to the counter to give me.

She went through my classes, highlighting the best route to each on the map, and gave me a tiny yellow slip for each teacher sign, which I was supposed to bring back at the end of the day. She smiled at me and most likely hoped, like my uncle, that I would like it here in Death City. I tried to smile back as friendly as I could.

When I went back out to the parking lot, other students were starting to arrive. I walked around the length of the school, following the line of foot-traffic. I was glad to see that most of the cars were older, nothing flashy. At home I'd lived in one of the few higher-income neighborhoods that were included in the Hidden Valley District. It was a very common thing to see a new Lexus or BMW in the students' lot. The nicest vehicle here was a shiny-looking motorcycle, and it stood out.

I looked at the map as I walked, trying to memorize it—hopefully I wouldn't have to walk around with it stuck in front of my nose all day. I stuffed everything in my bag, slung the strap over my shoulder, and sucked in a huge breath. I can do this, I lied to myself, and no one was going to attack me. I finally exhaled and stepped out towards my destiny.

I kept my face down as I walked the sidewalk, crowded with fellow teenagers. My plain uniform of light green sailor suit top and pink skirt didn't stand out, I noticed with a sigh of relief.

Once I got around the cafeteria, the main building was easy to spot. A large white skull was near the side of a door on the east corner. I felt my breathing gradually creeping toward hyperventilation as I approached it. I tried holding my breath as I followed two uniformed students walking through the door before me.

The classroom was far from small; it was vast, like a lecture hall, with risers and everything. Two people in front of me stopped just inside the door to hang up their backpacks on a long row of hooks. I copied them. They were two girls, one a brass-colored brunette, the other pale, with light pink hair.

I took the slip up to the teacher, a tall, dark man whose desk had a nameplate that identified him as Mr. Sid. He gawked at me when he saw my name — not an encouraging response—but at least he sent me to an empty desk at the back without introducing me to the class. It was harder for my new classmates to stare at me in that seat, but somehow they managed to sneak a glance every now ad then. During this I purposefully kept my eyes down, on the reading list our teacher had given me. Shakespeare, Bronte, Orwell, Chaucer. I'd already read the graphic novels of them. That was encouraging… now I didn't have to work nearly as hard to keep up this class, and could focus on missions.

When the bell rang, a grating buzzing sound, a lanky boy with short hair black as an oil slick (with the exception of three horizontal white stripes on the left of his bangs), leaned across the aisle to talk to me.

"You're Sarah Albarn, aren't you?" He looked like the polite and helpful AV club type. Everyone within a three-seat of us suddenly seemed interested in our conversation.

"Where's your next class?" he asked.

I had to check the schedule in my bag." Um, History of Souls with Mr. Wainison, in west wing." There was nowhere to look without meeting curious eyes.

"I'm headed toward the south wing, I could show you the way…"Definitely over-helpful.

He smiled. "I'm Death the Kid," he added.

I smiled hesitantly. "Thanks."

We grabbed our bags and headed down the hall. I could have sworn several people behind us were walking close enough to eavesdrop. I hoped I wasn't getting paranoid.

"So, this is a lot different than where you're from, huh?" he asked.

"_Extremely_."

"Does it have much sun there?"

"Ten or Twelve times a year."

"Wow, what must that be like?" he wondered aloud.

"Cloudy," I told him.

"You don't look very pale for someone who gets nearly no sun."

"Well, you do," I said, offended. "And here gets plenty of sun."

"My mother is part albino."

My frown deepened.

He studied my face apprehensively, and sighed. "Sorry, it was a joke," he explained.

We walked back around the cafeteria, to the western buildings by the gym. Death the Kid walked me right to the door, though it was clearly marked.

"Well, good luck," he said as I touched the handle. "Maybe we'll have some other classes together." He sounded hopeful. I smiled at him vaguely and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in about the same fashion. My History of Souls teacher, Mr. Wainison, who I would have disliked just because of the subject he taught, was the only one who forced me stand in front of the class to introduce myself. I stammered, blushed, and tripped over my own boots on the way to my seat.

After two classes, I started to recognize several of the faces in each class. There was always someone braver than the others who would introduce themselves. Usually following this was a myriad of questions about how I liked Death City so far. I tried to be friendly, but mostly I just lied about everything; I'm one of those paranoid people who doesn't trust strangers much. At least I never needed the map to get around—usually someone I'd met had the same class and they'd show me the way.

There was one who girl sat next to me in both History and Foreign Language, and she walked with me to the cafeteria for lunch. She was several inches taller than my five feet three inches, but my wildly curly dark hair made up a lot of the difference between our heights. I couldn't remember her name, so I nodded as she prattled about teachers and classes and boys.

We sat at the end of a full table with several of her friends, who she introduced to me. I quickly forgot all their names, since I'm not so good at memorizing either. They seemed impressed by her bravery in speaking to me. The boy from English, Death the Kid, waved at me from across the room. His two friends sat next to him, a fidgety little blonde with short hair, and a long haired brunette filing her nails, both endowed greatly if you get what I mean. But it was there, sitting in the lunchroom, trying to make conversation with seven curious strangers, that I first saw them.

They were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, as far away from where I sat as possible in the long room. There were four of them. They were talking and eating; each had a tray overflowing with food in front of them. They weren't gawking at me, unlike most of the other students, so it was safe to stare at them without fear of meeting an excessively interested pair of eyes. But it was none of these things that caught, and held, my attention.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the two boys, one was short — but muscled like a serious weight lifter, with extra spiky bright blue hair. The other was lanky, less bulky, with untidy, milk-colored hair. He was more boyish than the other, and very bored-looking. His skin was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living in this sun-stricken town.

The girls were opposites. The tall one was statuesque. She had a very voluptuous figure, the kind you see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue; the kind that made every girl around her want to jump off a building just by being in the same room. Her hair was deep ebony, tied in a high ponytail gently waving to the middle of her back. The other girl was short and pixie-like, extremely thin, with dainty features. Her hair was a sandy pale blonde, medium length and tied into pigtails. Her green eyes popped out at me, even from this distance.

This is not why I couldn't look away.

They were all looking away from the other students, talking and joking very animatedly. As I watched, the blond girl rose with an empty tray and walked away with a graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at that lithe dancer's step, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat still talking.

"Who are _they_?" I asked the girl from my History of Soul's class, whose name I'd forgotten. As she looked up to see who I meant — though already knowing, probably, from my tone — suddenly he looked at her, the thinner one, the boyish one, the youngest, perhaps. He looked at my neighbor for just a fraction of a second, and then his dark eyes found mine staring at him like some stalker-chick.

He looked away quickly, more quickly than I could, though I dropped my eyes in embarrassment. In that brief flash of a glance, his face held nothing of interest.

My neighbor giggled nervously, glancing at the table as I stewed in self-pity.

"That's Black*Star, Tsubaki, and Soul Eater. The one who left was Maka Albarn." She said this under her breath.

I glanced sideways at the boy, who was looking at his tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with slender, pale fingers. His mouth moved quickly, his lips barely open, like he was speaking to them quietly.

_Unusual, bizarre names_, I thought. The kinds of names cartoons had. But maybe that was in style here — weird names? I suddenly remembered that my neighbor was called Jacqueline, a perfectly common name. There were two girls named Jackie in my History class back home.

"They're very cool-looking."

"Yes!" Jackie agreed with another giggle. "They're not all together though — Black*Star and Tsubaki are partners, but Maka and Soul aren't." Her voice retained all the shock and condemnation of the school, I thought critically. But to be honest, I had to admit that I would have questioned this a bit myself had I been here earlier.

Throughout all this conversation, my eyes flickered again and again to the table where the strange group sat. They continued to talk.

"Have they always lived here?" I asked.

"Not all of them," she said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival like me. "Black*Star was an orphan and raised by the school, and Tsubaki is from Japan; Soul Eater is from somewhere in Western Europe, and Maka's lived here since she was born."

As I examined them, the youngest, the one called "Soul Eater" looked up and met my gaze, this time with evident curiosity in his eyes. As I looked swiftly away, it appeared to me that his glance held some kind of distaste.

"Which one is the boy with the snow white hair?" I asked. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye, and he was still staring at me, but not gawking like the other students had today — he had a slightly frustrated expression. I looked down again.

"That's Soul Eater. He's hotter than the hot, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date, and apparently none of the Meisters are compatible with his wavelength." She sniffed bitterly; I wondered when he'd turned her down.

I bit my lip then I glanced at him again. His face was turned away, so I couldn't read his expression .

After a few more minutes, the three of them left the table together. They all were noticeably graceful — even the short, brawny one. Comparing them to my oafishness, it was really unsettling to watch. The one named Soul Eater didn't look at me again.

I sat at the table with Jackie and her friends longer than I would have if I'd been sitting alone. It didn't take long for me to eat my lunch, and I was anxious not to be late for class on my first day. One of my new acquaintances, who considerately reminded me that her name was Kim, had Combat class with me for the next hour. We walked to class together in silence; she probably was shy, like me.

When we entered the classroom, Kim went to sit at a black-topped lab table exactly like in the other classrooms. She already had a neighbor. In fact, all the tables were filled but one. Next to the center aisle, I recognized Soul Eater by his unusual messy hair, sitting next to a single open seat.

As I walked down the aisle to introduce myself to the teacher and get my slip signed, I watched him closely. Just as I passed, he suddenly stilled himself. Meeting my eyes with a frightening expression on his face, he stared at me again — it was hostile nearly furious. Shocked, I stumbled over a book in the walkway and had to catch myself on the edge of a table. The guy sitting there laughed, and I refrained from punching him out.

I'd noticed that Soul's eyes were red — blood red.

Mr. Sid signed my slip and handed me a book with no nonsense about introductions, saying how he isn't the type of man to baby students and go easy on them. At that sentiment I could tell we were going to get along nicely. Of course, he had to send me to the only vacant seat in the room. I kept my eyes down as I went to sit by Soul, still bewildered by the antagonistic stare gave earlier. If he didn't have a partner, maybe that was the reason why?

I didn't look up as I plopped my textbooks on the table and sat, but from the corner of my eye I saw his posture change. He leaned away from me sharply, slouching in the extreme edge of his seat and turning his face like he smelled garbage. Conspicuously, I sniffed my hair—it smelled like chocolate, my favorite candy. What, was he allergic or something to it? I let my hair fall over my left shoulder, creating a dark wall between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher and his lesson.

Unfortunately the lecture was on something I'd never studied before: pressure points. In my notebook I scribbled down detailed notes, always keeping my head down.

Of course, I couldn't stop myself from sneaking a peek through my force-field of hair at the strange boy seated next to me. During the entire lesson, he never relaxed from his rigid, cramped position at the edge of his chair, keeping himself as far away as he physically could. I saw his hand resting on his right leg was clenched into a fist, tendons looking strained under his nearly translucent skin. This he never relaxed for a second. The long sleeves of his white shirt he had pushed up to his elbows, and his arms looked lean but muscular beneath his fair skin. He didn't look nearly as scrawny as before—next to his burly friend in the cafeteria.

This class seemed to go on for on and on, much longer than the others, stretching on into a faux infinity. Could it be that the day was finally coming to a close, or because I stupidly waited for his tightened fist to relax?

Soul continued to sit so still, I wondered if he was even alive. What the hell was wrong with him? What was wrong with _me_? Why did I even care? Was this even normal behavior for humans? I questioned my judgment on Jessica's bitterness at lunch today. Maybe she wasn't as resentful as I'd thought.

But for some reason I kept on thinking: _What type of weapon was he, again?_  
Geh, I'm such an idiot! I should have been searching for a partner, not sulking around and asking idiotic questions! Of course, it couldn't have anything to do with me. He didn't even know me!

One last time I snuck another peek, and regretted it instantly. He was giving me that showdown glare again, his red eyes yelling in revulsion. I flinched away from him, shrinking against my chair, and the phrase "if looks could kill" shrieked through my mind. Yeah, if they did, I was already dead.

At that same moment, the bell rang, _DIN- DONG, DEAD-DONG,_making me jump and clutch my chest in fear. Immediately Soul Eater was out of his seat. He rose fluidly, (he was much taller than I'd first thought) his back to me, and he was out the door before anyone else could batt an eyelash.

I sat frozen in my seat, staring dumbly after him. He was so…so…AUGH! It just wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things hastily, trying to squish the rage slowly filling me, for fear my eyes would start to brim with tears. For some reason my eyes would tear up whenever I get angry enough.

"Aren't you Sarah Albarn?" a male voice asked.

I looked up to see a cute, tan-faced boy; his pitch black hair carefully braided orderly cornrows, smiling at me in a friendly way. Obviously, he didn't think I stank terribly. Nodding, I wiped my face before a tear could fall.

"I'm Kilik."

"Hi, Kilik."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

"I'm headed to the gym, actually. I think I can find it."

"That's my next class, too." He seemed thrilled, though it wasn't that big of a coincidence in a school like this, physical fitness was essential to being a Meister.

We walked to class together; Kilik rambled a lot — so he supplied most of the conversation, which was perfectly fine with me. He'd lived in Washington State 'till he was thirteen, so he knew how I felt about the sun. It turned out he was in my English class also. As turns out, Kilik was the coolest person I'd met today.

But as we were entering the gym, he asked, "So, did you stab Soul with a knife or what? I've never seen him act like that."

Inwardly, I cringed. So I wasn't the _only _one who had noticed, and, apparently, that wasn't Soul Eater's usual behavior. I decided to play the baka. "Was that the boy I sat next to in Combat class?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Yes," said Kilik. "He looked like he was in pain or something."

"Dunno," I responded. "Never spoke to the guy. He didn't even say 'hi' to me."

"He's a weird guy." Kilik lingered beside me in the hall instead of heading going to the dressing room. "If _I _were lucky enough to sit by you, I would have talked to you."

I made another attempt to smile at him before walking through the girls' locker room door. He was cheery and uplifting, but that alone wasn't enough to lessen my indignation.

Our Gym teacher, Coach Nygus, found me a girl's uniform but didn't make me dress down today. At home, only two years of PE were required. Here, PE was mandatory all four years, something I actually looked forwards to. I watched four volleyball games go on at the same time. Remembering how many injuries I had sustained — and intentionally inflicted — while playing it, I felt pretty enthusiastic.

And so, the final bell rang at last. I shuffled slowly to the office with the paperwork I needed to turn in.

When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out. Soul stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that messy white shock of spiky hair. It didn't look like he noticed the sound of my entrance, so I stood pressed my back to wall, waiting for the conversation with the receptionist. He was arguing with her in a low, threatening voice. I quickly picked up on the argument's subject. He was trying to trade from sixth-hour Combat class to another available time — any other time.

I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the classroom. The look on his face must have been about a completely different situation. It was impossible for a stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike in someone like that.

The door swung open again, and dry wind suddenly gusted into the room. It blew the papers off the desk and swirled my hair around my face. The girl who came in merely stepped to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Soul's back stiffened, and he turned slowly to glare at me — his face was livid—with piercing eyes of pure hatred. For an instant, I felt a pang of true fear, raising the hair on my neck. That chilling look lasted for only a second, but it had frozen my heart solid.

Soul Eater reluctantly turned back to the receptionist. "Never mind, then," he said hastily in a deep, velvety voice. "I guess it's impossible, but thanks a lot for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.

My face and thoughts muddled, I stepped to the desk shakily and unceremoniously handed her the signed slip.

"How did your first day go, dear?" the receptionist asked me, and I jumped, startled.

I squeaked out a lie. "Fine," I answered, voice faint. She didn't look thoroughly convinced, but shrugged and said nothing more.

When I got to the parking lot the sun was no longer laughing overhead, but had sunk very low to the horizon, trying to stay awake; nearly every car was gone. Frowning, I gripped my school-bag with both hands and sniffed. In a burst of rage I ran all the way back to Spirit's apartment, fighting tears the whole way there.


	3. Chapter 2

_**Second Chapter...whooo~**_

_**Oh, and Twilight belongs to Stephanie Meyers, and Soul Eater belongs to Atsushi Okobo. However, Sarah Albarn is a creation of my own mad invention, so if you want to use her for anything, please ask. No, seriously, PLEASE ASK. PLEASE PLEASE, I'm begging…..write for her? What? "NO?" Fine….I'll go away then.**_

* * *

2. Open Book- That Strange Boy is a Scythe!

After my somewhat unenjoyable first day of school, I could say that the next day was a bit better...but it did have its moments that made me want to stick my head in the sand and not come out until graduation.

It was better because it wasn't sunny today, the clouds (my best friends) had huddled together during the night, and they were looking satisfyingly opaque and dense when I woke this morning. It also was easier, mostly because I now kind of knew what to expect on a normal school day.

Kilik swooped over to sit near me in English, and offered to walk me to my next class. All the while, AV club Death the Kid glared at us (especially Kilik), and that was sort of cool.

People didn't stare nearly as much as on my first day here, which also added to my bonus "happy points"' for the day. At lunch I sat with a big group that included Kilik, Death the Kid, Jackie, and a handful of other names and faces I now could recall.

What made today worse was the agonizing fact that I was exhausted from lack of sleep; I still couldn't take the constant whooshing of wind echoing around inside the house. But wait, that's not all. Mr. Reikin called on me in Algebra when my hand wasn't raised, and due to my lack of mathematics skills, I answered incorrectly. In gym I had to dress out today and play volleyball with the rest of the class, which didn't turn out so bad at first. But the one time I had the opportunity to get the ball, I spiked it so hard over the net that it ricocheted off the skull of one of the other team's players and knocked her unconscious. Afterward the damned thing came down with a smack and popped into pieces. The entire class gave me dirty looks after that, including Coach Mira. Apparently the poor student got a concussion...stupid freak-of-nature strength. And it got even worse when I realized that Soul Eater wasn't in school at all.

All morning the thought of lunch made me bite my nails from the anxiety, dreading his bizarre, arctic glares. Part of me wanted to corner the punk in a dark alley and demand his beef with me; the other part wanted to blubber about how mean he was acting. While I lay sleepless in my bed, I even imagined what I'd say to him. But hey, I knew better, it's something I didn't have the guts to do, point blank. God, I made a bunny look like a man-eating dragon.

When I entered the cafeteria with Jackie—trying not to (and failing miserably) keep my eyes from searching the room for him—I saw his three friends sitting together without him.

In the middle of my revelation Kilik intercepted us and escorted us to his table. Jackie seemed pleased by the extra attention, and soon her friends joined us as well. I tried to listen to their convo, but I was too distracted by the anticipation of Soul's arrival. I had hoped he would stroll in any minute, ignore me in that incredibly stoic manner, and prove me wrong.

He didn't, so by the end of lunch I was wound up tighter than a spring on Red Bull. Kilik clung to me like a little lost puppy I couldn't get rid of, while I walked to Weapons Bio with my backpack swinging moodily from my arm.

At the door I held my breath, but of course I sucked it up and went inside. Nyeh, he wasn't there either. Huh. But of course Soul wouldn't be here if I wanted to chew him out about his apprehension. Was I an idiot for caring about the opinion of one person? That's one of my problems—I care too much about what others think.

On the bright side, Mr. Soul Eater wasn't here; the desk became my own personal bubble where I could shut out the rest of the world. That selfish and spoiled aspect of my ego rejoiced in his leave of absence. All throughout class I drew doodles of different scythes and other weapons all over my spiral notebook's pages.

When school was finally done, I had to report to the headmaster, Lord Death, about what I was classified as: a Weapon or a Meister. Usually, at a young age it's determined which you are (that is if you're not just another normal human). Weapons usually have their first transformation at around ten or twelve. Meisters on average find they can sense souls at around five or six. It's different for everyone, obviously, and there are exceptions. I'm kind of in the middle ground, but not just because of my parents.

My mother, as I've said before, was a Meister. Her Weapon, my father Chad, was a scythe like Uncle Spirit—and as I also realized from the conversation with Jackie, like Soul as well. It's common for children born from a Meister/Weapon pair inherit after one parent and not the other. Originally, I was a Meister but unfortunately, an incident five years ago changed me, and now I'm kind if both, though i can't say why just yet. I can't transform exactly, so it's complicated...

Anyway, after telling Lord Death about me being a Meister, he went through the preliminary test of my Soul Perception. Lord Death, a.k.a the Grimm Reaper, is in person a very comical figure; the direct opposite of the foreboding and creepy image they depict in horror movies and metal posters. He's got this goofy, nasally voice that's usually cheery and unserious. He kind of looks like a weird giant price of black felt standing upright. Near the top where his head should be is a very non-threatening skull mask. Around 6 1/2 I begun sensing souls in two different ways, so I figured his preliminary test was going to be an easy one.

Hell, was I wrong...again.

In the Death Room (which is kind of like the headmaster's office), he placed three covered trays in front of me on a plain wooden table. Okay, all I had to do was try and peek past the trays into the spiritual realm, I thought, see the soul, and there, I'm done.

No, apparently the silver-looking bowl-like items covering the trays blocked that. So when I opened my eyes to find it, all I saw was darkness in the room instead of the soul I was to find. _Fine_, I told myself, I'll listen for the soul instead. It took me over five minutes (which is very bad) to sense the vibrations from it, but I'm just grateful that I found it.

…

When I got home to the apartment yesterday I'd discovered that Spirit couldn't cook much beside oatmeal, but with Maka there he was okay because he told me she could cook just like Kami. I've had some of Auntie's food, so this was an encouraging fact. Frankly, I think she should give up being a Meister and work in Paris as a chef. But when I got there they were running out of food, so I jot down on some paper the items Spirit told me Maka needed to make dinner, and he gave me some money to buy them.

Death*Mart isn't too far from the school, only a couple blocks east of the apartment. Inside The store I felt overwhelmed by the crowd, much like at school. I was never really allowed to go out by myself so I was antsy the entire shopping experience. At one point I think paranoia may have set into my brain because I saw a blur of white passed by me when the cashier was ringing up the items, and I thought it was Soul. It turned out to be a hefty guy in a greasy white t-shirt and my suspicions were frozen over like the beef cutlets I'd just purchased.

When I got home I unloaded the groceries and tried to help Maka to cook, but she was kind of cold to me when I said hi, she didn't seem to like to talk to me much, maybe because I was a new face. In actuality, cooking is something I shy away from because mostly I ruin pots and burn food just by turning the stove on. So I merely handed the ingredients to my cousin as she requested, and kept out of the way. I did try to talk to her, though. Every question I'd ask Maka would kind of give a one word/phrase answer. It sort of went back and forth like a ping pong game:

"So you're a Meister?" I asked.

"Yeah," was the reply.

"Have you collected a lot of souls?"

"Sure."

"...Are you friends with..."

"Who?"

"He's kind of got white hair and really interesting eyes. Soul Eater."

"Yes, I know him."

"Is that really his name?"

"Yes, Soul Eater Evans."

"I thought 'Eater' was his last name."

"No, it's part if his first, he doesn't like his last."

I now realize why parents dislike talking to teenagers; our one-word answers can get…tiring. So, I changed the subject. After a while Spirit came home, looking weary. He stumbled into the kitchen with a glum look.

"Hey, welcome home," said Maka and I at the same eerie time. He froze for a second, probably creeped out at our jinx moment.

"Thanks." Spirit slung his black suit jacket over his shoulder as we prepared the food. "What's for dinner?" he asked eagerly, but I sensed a bit of wariness in his voice. My mother Ferra was a very experimental cook. Her dishes may have been edible, but they looked and tasted otherworldly. Could that be why he was looking at me weirdly, he remembered her outlandish food?

"Steak and mashed potatoes," Maka answered for us both, and he looked relieved at her announcement. As if _I _had the leadership capabilities to lead a cousin older than me into cooking what I wanted. Let me laugh at the thought for a while.

Yeah, so Uncle Spirit lingered in the kitchen for a few seconds before he slipped into the living room and switched on the TV. While the steaks cooked Maka set the table and I made a salad, which was one of the few things I can make without the possibility of fire. He walked into the dining room when dinner was finished and he sniffed the air as the aroma of cooked meat wafted from the tureen on the table.

"Smells great, girls."

"Thanks," said Maka, not exactly happy-sounding, and she sat down without ceremony.

We ate without speaking for a while. It wasn't what you would call uncomfortable, but it was pretty dull. After a few minutes Uncle Spirit decided to break the silence. "So how did you like the academy, Sarah? Make any new friends?" He spooned seconds into his plate as he asked.

I looked at my mostly empty plate and shrugged. "Well I've got a few classes with a Weapon named Jackie. I sit with her and her Meister's friends at lunch. There's also this Meister, Kilik, he's really friendly. Actually, everyone's been really warm and open." _Except for a certain boy in Weapons Bio._

"That must be Kilik Rung. Nice boy—good family. His dad owns the host club downtown. He makes a good living off the tourists looking for a good time."

Okay, that was informative. I nodded to show my acknowledgement. We chewed in a few more seconds of quiet.

"So Maka," I watched as she picked at the food on her plate. "You mentioned you knew Soul?"

"Soul-kun? Sure. He's a cool guy. He...Soul's a little different from other weapons. At school he's kind of withdrawn."

She surprised me by getting angry; Maka jabbed her fork into her food, green eyes narrowed. "Kids at school," she muttered. "Soul is a really strong Weapon who could probably become a Death Scythe in no time," she continued, her voice rising. "It's just his wavelength is really hard to comprehend; he's had _dozens_ of Meisters try to wield him, **including me**. It starts out fine, but after a few minutes the soul waves slip and—," Maka gave a sigh and looked down. "Never mind."

It was the longest I'd ever heard Maka speak, and it was surprising. Obviously whatever people were saying upset her greatly.

I tried to backpedal where our discussion was heading. "Oh, Uh well I just noticed that he kept to himself...he looks pretty cute to me," I added, trying to not anger her further.

"No!" Spirit yelled in distress. I dropped my fork onto the table with a clatter. "My darling daughter and niece shouldn't be looking at boys!"

"Papa," said Maka, "you didn't seem to mind when she mentioned Kilik!"

"He's different, I know his family. That Soul Eater boy looks dangerous, I mean, just look at him! Those eyes his wild hair, those **teeth**!"

_Teeth?_ I thought.

"…drop it already, Papa…."

And after that statement Spirit calmed down and we lapsed back into silence as they finished eating. Maka cleared the table while I started the dishes by hand. Spirit retreated back to the TV, and after the dishes were cleaned I went upstairs to work on homework from my most loathed subject, math.

That night it was finally quiet, but I stayed awake even though I was exhausted.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I became used to my lessons, but I hadn't accepted any missions on account of my not having found a Weapon partner yet. By the time Friday popped up I recognized most everyone in my grade. In Gym, the kids on my team made sure to pass me the ball and watch as I put my clumsy, misguided strength to use, making the other team scatter.

During this monotonous time, Soul didn't come back to school.

Every day he'd intrude on my thoughts when I least expected it. I would watch Maka and her friends enter the cafeteria without him, while lunchtime conversation buzzed around me non-stop. Mostly it revolved around the number of souls collected, or new missions available. But this week everyone was excited about a trip Kilik was putting together, to some beach in California. I had cracked under the peer pressure and agreed to go, more out of politeness than anything else. Beaches were no different from the dessert—hot and dry, so there wasn't any desire for my presence there.

By Friday I entered Weapons Bio no longer worried that Soul would be there. For all I knew, he could have dropped out. I tried to keep him out of my mind, but worry soon set in, that I somehow was responsible for his sudden disappearance, however stupid the notion was.

And so my first weekend in Death City passed uneventfully.

Spirit wasn't used to staying in the apartment for long, and so spent most of his weekend at cabaret clubs, flirting with women no doubt. Maka was always taking on missions, Weapon partner or not, so I didn't see her at all after school. Usually Kishin egg souls come out at night, so she probably had to stay over in a hotel until she could track the Pre-Kishin down. With the apartment to myself there was nothing much to do but clean, procrastinate on my homework, and draw some terribly sloppy fan-art. I did walk to the school library on Saturday (thank Shinigami it was open on the weekends), but it only had books about history or Phasmology, so I didn't bother to check anything out. I would have to search for a decent bookstore in the city, or even in Vegas. I wondered how long it'd take for me to walk there, but soon realized it wasn't worth it to go all the way to Las Vegas to buy a crummy little book.

Monday morning in the parking lot people passed by without even looking at me.

Good, the novelty of my presence had already gotten stale. It was cooler this morning, and the sun was hidden by a few stray clouds.

In English, Kilik pulled up his chair beside me and began talking about the trip he was still planning. Thankfully we had a pop quiz on Wuthering heights that interrupted his jabbering. But that also was a win-fail situation. Unfortunately the graphic novel version left out some major points, and I bombed it.

Aside from the failed quiz, I felt more comfortable than last week.

When we walked out of class the air was full of thick drops of water. I could hear people muttering to each other in concern. They probably didn't get much rain here, considering the climate and location, so this much rain in only a week was most likely troubling.

"Whoa," said Kilik, confused. "It's raining."

I looked at the muddy stream of water sluggishly swirling into the gutter.

"Yay." Precipitation. My good day just got better.

He looked surprised at my enthusiasm. "You **like** rain?"

"Yeah. That means the sun is hiding." This was great. "Besides, back home I even had a best friend whose name meant 'rain' in English."

"So you don't like sunshine?" he asked me, an eyebrow rose incredulously.

"Sure I do." I paused in thought. "On TV and in movies or books."

Kilik shrugged and was about to leave, but then a wave of water sprayed us both from the side. We turned to see which puddle it had originated from. I had my suspicions on Death the Kid, who was walking away calmly, his back to us—in the opposite direction of his next class, I might add. Kilik had the same inkling as I did; he narrowed his eyes and grinned.

"Uh, I'll see you at lunch, 'Kay?" I walked away as I spoke. "Once people start splashing, I have to resist from punching them out."

He nodded once, still watching Kid's retreating form.

The entire morning everyone wouldn't shut up about the rain; apparently it was going to be eight inches, a new record for the city. Sure, it was really exciting—if you're not used to that sort of thing.

I walked with Jackie as usual to the cafeteria. Puddles of water were everywhere, even inside. I avoided the water carefully, not wanting to fall. Jackie thought I was a riot, and she smiled like a Cheshire cat all the way to lunch.

Kilik met up with us after we walked through the double-doors, laughing, with water still dripping from his short dark hair. He and Jackie discussed the water fight last period as we merged with the line for food. Out of nervous habit I glanced to that table in the corner as I passed the napkins. I froze, my friends bumping into me where I stood. There were four people at the table.

Jackie pulled on my uniform sleeve. "Hey, Sarah, what's wrong?"

I looked at my boots; my face burning hot. There wasn't any reason to feel relieved, I hadn't done anything terrible.

"What's with Sarah?" whispered Kilik to Jackie.

"N-nothing," I assured them. My eyes flickered to the table. "I'll just get a soda today." I hurried to the end of the food line.

"You're not hungry?" Jackie asked. She took up a blue lunch tray and followed me.

"Actually," I kept my eyes to the floor, "I feel kind of sick." I grabbed a can of Coke Zero as I waited for them to get their food. I followed them to our usual spot, shaking inside. Somehow I opened the soda without breaking down and sipped the fizzy liquid slowly, upset stomach churning slowly. Jackie asked me a total of twice, how I felt. I put on my 'emergencies only' fake smile—told them it was nothing. Though the cowardly part of me wondered if I should fake illness and escape to the infirmary to hide.

_Don't be ridiculous_, a voice in my mind told me. _You shouldn't run away._ Yeah, okay, maybe the voice was right. How was I supposed to call myself a Meister if I always ran away?

I decided one more glance at cousin Maka's table was in order. If he glared at me, fine, I would still go to Weapons Bio, and if he wasn't there it wasn't my problem. I couldn't sense any of them looking this way so I lifted my head from staring into my drink.

The four of them were laughing. Black*Star and Soul had their spiky hair dripping with rainwater. Tsubaki and Maka leaned away as Black*Star shook his soaked electric blue hair toward them. Maka screeched like an angry cat and hit him with a bright red textbook, which was quite funny to watch. I giggled as he collapsed onto the table with a book-shaped indent in his head. They were enjoying the rain like everyone else, only they looked... closer (warmer maybe?) than everyone else, more like a sitcom, though.

But other than the laughter and textbook violence, there was something different I couldn't pinpoint. I looked at Soul for a second. His skin was less pale, I noticed—flushed from all the laughing I guess—the circles under his eyes less visible than last week. But there was something else I couldn't quite place, a strange sound…

"Sarah, what're you staring at?" Jackie had seen me gawking and began to track my stare.

At that same exact second, Soul's eyes flashed over to mine. I felt a shock flow through me so I dropped my head, letting my curls fall over my face to conceal my expression. In the instant our eyes met, I was sure that he didn't look as cold or menacing as he did the last time we met. He merely looked intrigued again, frustrated, somehow, at who knows what.

Jackie leaned over and I could feel her cup her hand around my ear. "Soul Eater is staring at you," she giggled.

I swallowed. "H-he doesn't look mad or anything," I asked, "does he?"

"Psh, no." she said easily. "Should he?

Gripping my can so hard it nearly overflowed, I shook my head. "I just don't think he likes me all that much." My stomach continued to do backflips.

"Well, he never really talks much to anyone except his friends over there...but he's still looking at you."

"Stop staring at him," I hissed, feeling a bit possessive. She giggled again but looked away. I contemplated using violence if she dared look back. For the remainder of lunch I kept my eyes anchored to my own table.

I didn't really want to walk to class with Kilik today, considering how my whole day had been thrown off at lunch, but I didn't want to seem like I was avoiding him. So, as usual we walked to Weapons Bio. Once we got to the classroom, on the door there was a note:

**Your teacher is on a mission**, **so please join the second combat class in the outside training lot for this period today. – Lord Death :)**

When we finally made it to the training area, everyone was milling around, buzzing with anticipation. Class didn't start for a few minutes so I sat on the ledge of the retaining wall overlooking the city, and played with my iPod until our instructor arrived.

I sensed very clearly when a Weapon's soul came near and sat down next to me on the hard concrete, but I kept my focus on the game of Tap Tap Revolution I was playing.

"Hey," said a cool, casual voice.

I looked up, disturbed that he was actually speaking to me. He sat at quite a distance, probably about a meter away, but the way he sat was sort of angled toward my direction. Although the sun had finally agreed to peek around the clouds, his hair was still dripping wet. Even so, he looked mysterious as ever. His face was still decidedly neutral, but his posture was more open, a faint smile on his lips. However his eyes were still hard, careful.

"My name is Sarah Albarn," I said cautiously. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Soul Eater."

He gave me a slightly confused look. Inside, I was feeling similar. Did I imagine the entire thing? He was perfectly fine now.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, smile fading. I know yours already, though, Maka's been talking about your arrival nonstop."

I cringed, really? Of course it was something like that.

"Oh, well same here, Maka told me."

"No," he insisted. "I meant, why'd you call me Soul Eater?"

"You prefer just 'Soul'?"

"Nah—I like being called Soul Eater, but I think Maka must call me by my full name behind my back."

I tried to say something but idiocy claimed my tongue again.

To my surprise, Coach Mira came out to greet us. She was dressed in a blue sweat suit with the school name on front in red. Her long black braids fell around her chocolate face and she stared at us with steely sky blue eyes. "Alright," she said above the conversation. "Everyone team up with your partner, let's go." All the Weapons and Meisters grumbled, pairing off with their partners. The coach looked around, making sure everyone was with who they were supposed to, and that no Weapons were paired with other Weapons.

**Rule #2:** A Weapon can never be partners with another Weapon. Same rule goes for Meisters.

I'm not sure why, but Lord Death a couple of years ago forbade Weapons to partner up with other Weapons.

Coach Mira looked at us sitting on the ledge away from the group. "Albarn! Evans! Why don't you have partners? State your classifications!"

I stood up quickly and shoved my iPod into my shoulder bag next to me. "Sarah Albarn, One-star Meister, ma'am!"

She looked to Soul for his response.

"Soul Eater, Weapon, Scythe," he sighed.

"And both of you haven't any partners this far into the school year?"

"Well, I just moved here—," I started to say.

"Then you'll be partners from now on." she decided before I could finish. Soul scowled and looked away. Coach clapped her hands and put out instructions. We were to complete the maze as fast as we could, while fighting off the other students we encountered. The two-star Meister/Weapon teams would be lurking within the grassy maze in front of us. We weren't supposed to use shortcuts like cutting through hedge walls. In twenty minutes she would be coming back to see who had completed the challenge.

"Get started," she ordered.

"Fine then, you up for this, partner?" Soul asked I looked up to find him smiling at me crookedly, showing a frightening set of zigzagged shark teeth. I only stared at him stupidly and succeeded in not fainting. This second smile faded also; he obviously wondered if I was mentally competent enough to complete this assignment.

"Ok," I said, breathing in slowly. "Let's go ahead. Do you mind if I—?"

I held out my hand; no way would I be able to catch a scythe if he transformed suddenly. His hand caught mine, hesitantly, after I asked. His fingers colder than ice, like he'd been standing in a walk-in freezer with his hands pressed to the wall. But that's not why my hand flinched away so quickly. When his skin came in contact with mine, it stung like a shock of static electricity.

"Sorry," he muttered, immediately pulling his hand back into his jacket pocket.

I looked at him for a second, was this why he never had a Meister for long? I had felt his wavelength touch my own, so I could see why no one wanted him—it was wild, almost erratic, and very difficult to grasp.

Again, I held out my hand without looking at him, and he gave me a quizzical look.

"Other Meisters gave up at this point, y'know."

Good thing I inherited that stubborn streak from my papa.

"I don't care," I told him. "We'll just have to learn how to deal."

He sighed, gripped my hand, and transformed like all the other Weapons were doing at this point. There was a small flash of light; within moments there was a scythe in my hands. For a few seconds I couldn't breathe, staring at his weapon-form. The handle was long, taller than me by about two feet and a silvery gray that glimmered in the diffused sun. Where the handle connected to a small cylindrical base there were black triangles bordering it. Connected to the base was a cylinder which the scythe blade stuck out of one side. On the cylinder looked like an oval outlined in black as well, and a dull red circle in the middle of the white oval. The blade curved out of the cylinder at nearly a 45 degree angle, the color of it divided in a zigzagged fashion similar to his teeth. Above was black, below was red.

In the oval, the red circle moved down to look at me. "Sarah?" he said, voice sounding distorted because of his present form.

I realized, with mounting chagrin that that circle was kind of like his eye as a weapon.

This left me nothing to do but try not to look up at him...unsuccessfully. Again he stared at me, this time his reflection appearing in the blade, that same unexplainable look of frustration in his eyes.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"Everyone else already is in the maze, so…"

_Oh….yeah….I almost forgot._

Holding Soul with both hands I ran into the maze of hedges, the sun finally peeking out of the clouds, laughing endlessly.

I've run hundreds of mazes, (seriously, don't ask) and they were pretty challenging. So at a glance, this maze was easy in comparison to those others. After running through so many of those hellish mind prisons I like to call myself an expert. Though the only things I seem to be good at are running away, getting frightened, and using too much strength when completing everyday activities. Wait…where was I? Oh….the maze assignment.

So, I used my Soul Perception to avoid the ambushes from the older students. They were obvious to spot, and the killing intent from them was strong. The upperclassmen were only hiding within the dead ends, as far as I could tell, and it wouldn't be a problem of confronting them unless I went the wrong way. Soul remained surprisingly quiet as we traveled the grassy lot, making no more effort to engage in conversation.

Still, I could feel our wavelengths humming in harmony to one another. Not only had that, but the electric shock from when we first touched gradually changed into a subdued, constant flow of power. Was this what it was like to wield a Weapon? This type of thing never happened when I used to practice with Papa.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, it felt pretty good.

We finished before half the class, but Maka and a handful others were ahead of us by at least five minutes. I saw Kilik and his partners taking a quick break near the water fountain. Another pair were snacking on a few bags of potato crisps over near the building. Right after completing the assignment, Soul changed back into his human form and sat on the ledge near the maze exit. This predicament left me nothing to do but sit down and play with my iPod as we waited for the rest of the class to finish up. During my resumed game of TapTap I tried not to gawk at him but the effort was unsuccessful. Predictable as always, I glanced form the game to Soul, and he stared at me with that same semi-nonchalant look laced with suppressed frustration. It was then I identified a subtle change in his face from before.

"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out without thinking. (Which I do very often.)

Baffled by my random question he gave me a confused raise of his eyebrows. "No," he said firmly.

"Oh, well," I mumbled and looked back down. "I thought there was something…different about your eyes today."

Shrugging, Soul looked away without much emotion on his face.

Would you **blame** me for not believing the guy? I was sure something had changed from before. Last time, the dark and bloody maroon color of his eyes was what first scared me when he glared at me—the hue was shocking in contrast the background of his pale skin and paper white hair. His eyes today were like light, lucid strawberry syrup. Yet I still knew he had no reason to lie about having contacts. There was no motive whatsoever unless I made one up. Maybe Death City was making me crazy in the literal sense of the word.

I looked down. His hands scrunched into hard fists again.

After a little while, I began playing Tap Tap again. The colored dots flew down the screen, and I frowned, my fingers missing them completely. Eventually I got fed up and lowered the difficulty. The song already was a hard one: _Misery Business_ by Paramore—but set on 'expert' made it nearly impossible.

Coach Nygus popped over into our conversation unannounced.

"So, Sarah," she asked me. I didn't look up. "you think Soul Eater's wavelength was too hard to handle?" I could sense the self-assured smirk that inevitably followed the question, and looked her square in the face.

"Soul," I corrected. "Actually, it wasn't that bad. _Tingly_, actually."

She stared as if I had spoken French. "H-have you run this maze before?" she sounded surprised, and my inner sadist reveled in her anxiety. I smiled like the delinquent I was.

"Not without a blindfold." Which was completely true.

"Blindfold?"

I nodded.

"Blindfold?" she repeated.

"Yeah, blindfold," I said to emphasize the point. Soul stared at me as well.

"Well," said Coach Nygus after a moment. "I guess you two being partners is a good thing." She walked off a little shaken, but I continued to smile nonetheless.

"It's too bad about the rain, isn't it?" Soul asked after a minute.

"Not really," I answered honestly, "I love the rain. It's marvelous. _Much_ better than all that hot, dreadful sunshine."

"You don't like the heat." Another true statement.

"Or dust, sand, and any debris that happen to be floating in the desert wind," I added, just to be cheeky.

"Death City must be a difficult place for you to live," he folded his hands and leaned back.

"What a **great** assumption," I muttered, sarcasm heavier than I wanted.

"Why did you come here, then?" He sounded a bit frustrated at this point, his voice slightly strained.

"It's… complicated."

"I think I can keep up," he pressed.

"My parents died," I said. No tears, no emotion.

"That," He was silent a long while, but his whole expression did a 180 into something resembling pity. "I-I mean… _When_ did?"

My voice sounded sadder than usual."Last May. But," I tried at least to sound a little happier. "I got to stay with my Auntie Kami for a while." _Alone, in that house with no one else. _

"And you don't like her," Soul concluded, his tone awe-fully kind.

"No, Autie Kami's quirky, but she's nice."

"Why didn't you stay with her then?"

I couldn't fathom his interest, but he continued to stare at me with penetrating eyes, as if my dull life's story was somehow vitally important.

"Auntie travels a lot. She's a three-star Meister." I half-smiled.

"Have I heard of _her_..." he said, rolling his eyes. "Maka's one true idol." He laughed a bit nervously. "Yeah, I know, but she sent you here so that she could travel?"

My head dipped a bit. "No, don't be stupid." I sent myself."

His eyebrows knit together. "I don't understand," he admitted, and he seemed unnecessarily frustrated by that fact.

I sighed. Why was I explaining this to him? He continued to stare at me with the same obvious pity.

"She stayed with me for a while, but she missed traveling. It made her unhappy—she was like a caged bird...so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Maka and Spirit." My voice was gloomier than a funeral march by the time I finished.

"But now you're unhappy," he pointed out rather bluntly.

"And?" I challenged. "Well?"

"Th-that doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, but his eyes were still looking me over in that same strange look he had when we first met.

I laughed "**Life** isn't fair," I pointed out. "You better get _used_ to it."

"I believe I _have _heard that before," he agreed.

"So that's my life," I finished, wondering why he was still staring.

His gaze became softer. "You put on a good show," he said after a moment. "But I bet you're suffering more than you allow anyone to notice."

I grimaced at him for a moment before I stuck out my tongue like a three-year-old and looked away.

"Am I wrong?"

I tried to ignore him. "Hmph," was I all muttered.

"I didn't think so," he murmured half to himself.

"Why does it matter to _you_?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes away, trying hard not to cry.

"Because...because now I'm your partner."

The word 'partner' hovered around and stuck a while to bounce around in between my ears. Why did it make me so nervous?

"Am I annoying you?" he asked.

I glanced at him without thinking… and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself." Wow, another stupid admission. "My face is so easy to read sometimes."

"Oh, yeah, I always find you very easy to read."

"You ~," I growled, frowning.

He smiled widely, flashing a set of frightening, ultrawhite teeth.

Meanwhile, I was in disbelief that I'd just explained my dreary life to this bizarre, infuriating, boy who may or may not hate my guts in some weird way. He'd seemed engrossed in our conversation, but I could see, from the corner of my eye, that now he was leaning away from me again. His hands were clamped to the edge of the stone wall so tightly his hands were even paler than his face.

When the bell finally rang, Soul rushed as swiftly and as gracefully from the room as he had last week.

Just like last Monday, I stared after him, simply bewildered.

Kilik was suddenly at my side and offered to pick up my books for me. I denied the offer before scooping them up.

"That was terrible," he sighed. "That maze was too confusing. "

"I didn't have any trouble with it," I said, shrugging. "I've run it before, though," I added. Good thing I didn't mention the blindfold or else it probably would have made him feel bad.

"Evans seemed friendly enough today," he commented as we passed the vending machines on the corridor off the main hallway. He didn't seem all too pleased about that detail.

"I wonder what was with him last week," I looked away quickly before my eyes gave me away. "Meh, things change, right?"

He agreed and then started to chatter on and on like every day we walked to the Gym, but for some reason I couldn't concentrate as well as before. PE this time didn't do much to hold my attention, either. Kilik was on my team today. I covered my position as well as I could but my thoughts were only interrupted when it was my turn to serve; everyone ducked out of the way every time I did.

After school I walked to the parking lot, noticing with some grief that the sun had already dried up any moisture that the week's precipitation had brought.

I took a cursory glance around me to make sure it was clear. My eyes had finished scanning the lot when I noticed a lone, ivory figure. It was Soul, obviously. He was leaning against a motorcycle (which I assumed was his), seven cars down from me, and looking in my direction. In my distracted state, I didn't notice the car getting ready to slam into me. Lucky for the Toyota (and me), I jumped out of the way in time. The driver honked at me, the horn hurting my ears at such a close distance away. I took a deep breath, and made sure that the way was completely clear before I crossed over to the sidewalk on the other side. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Soul and his bike, but I definitely saw him grin.

* * *

**Would you do me a favor? You would? No? Yes? Well if you want to do me a favor then here it is….**

**-Breathes in- -exhales- **

**Please, please, please, please, read the story I wrote that Sarah's from? "My Destiny My Fervent Plea"? It's a fic I've been working on for a while so….. Anyone who reviews can have for free, a llama on DeviantArt. I've got a Deviant Art by the same name as my penname, so, check out my sketches too I guess? **

**~Chiu signing off~**


	4. Chapter 3

**_Okay, on to Chapter three, which I wracked my brain to come up with how it would play out… enjoy? I hope you do, or else I'll go into a corner and sulk like Crona! Twilight not mine, Soul Eater not mine, But Sarah is mine, so paws off unless I say so~ :D_**

3. Phenomenon- We can't be compatible

When I opened my eyes the following morning, something surely was off.

It was the light. Instead of that irritating glare that scorched my eyelids as a wakeup call, it was the soft grey beams of scattered sun that gave a more comfortable transition into reality.

I jumped up and leaned as far as I could on the bed to look out the window without getting up. Horrible. Everywhere was covered with shallow pools of water. Mind you, I love rain and snow as much as any other person but in my packing for the dessert I'd not even considered the rare event of rain. And even if I did, I didn't expect it to rain so much that it'd leave puddles, or that the sun wouldn't dry it out in a matter of minutes. I have enough trouble not avoiding toppling over when the ground is dry, but add the fact that the ground isn't dry and that I've no boots with me. Yes, even a dunce at math like myself could foresee the dangers ahead. Maybe I should go back to my ridiculous dreams of surviving this place and fall asleep again, stay in bed, maybe hide from the world a bit?

_No, no, that's not right..._

Both Maka and Spirit had hit the road before I was finished getting ready. In many ways, living with them was like having my own place, but it was bittersweet. I'm usually the loner, the 'I don't need you' chick who sat at the back of class looking dark and unapproachable. Right now I was starving for attention, unlike the reaction of my first day here. Loneliness used to not bother me. What a thing a little sun can do to bring down my mood—maybe I'm just insane.

Probably.

I pilfered some Nutrigrain bars and a juice box from the small pantry, chewing in my decent from the penthouse to the ground floor. I was excited, if you could call nervous anticipation 'excited'.

Wait, I guess you can. But point is I really looked forward to school today, which was a frightening thought. I definitely knew it had to do with me being able to hold Soul in his weapon form. The idea of us being compatible partners made me start to run to school, which was a very foolish reason for doing it.

Every antisocial neuron in my brain screamed "avoid him" , after our supposed 'bonding' yesterday. Even so, I was suspicious of him and his facade of indifference; why would he not care to have a partner? Sometimes I could hear the persistent hostility ebbing from his wavelength, and I somehow knew it was directed towards me for whatever illogical reason. Whenever I pictured him sneering at me I felt tongue-tied and dizzy. Soul was cool, I was not, and those are two personalities that didn't mesh. So how could I be so hyped about our wavelengths working together before?

As it just so happens I'm slightly ADHD in addition to being a spazzy loser, so it took every iota of concentration I had to keep my feet from slipping on the slick concrete in my dash to school. I lost my balance while I neared the parking lot, and nearly fell down in my face, but thank goodness I was born a Meister, so my reflexes kicked in and I recovered by executing a clumsy front flip. Angry, I pushed the hair from my face.

_Clearly, today is going to be one of those days._

Walking nearer to the school, I tried to distract myself from falling again and my strange acquaintance with Soul Eater by thinking about Kilik and Death the Kid. It was obvious how different the students treated me, especially the boys, but I couldn't pinpoint why before. I looked and acted the same as I had in New Hevan. Maybe it was because back at home I was the only one that wasn't a normal human. Perhaps it was because I was considered normal here, where humans who turned into weapons were common, and the people able to wield them just as common. Or could it be that possibly my clumsiness (an uncommon trait among Meisters) was seen as either endearing or pathetic, and I was more or less a helpless kitty that needed protection. Whatever, it didn't really matter at this point, because I wasn't here to be taken care of. Though between the gossip, the attention, and the rivals, more and more I wondered if I would prefer to be ignored entirely.

I passed a few cars in my pilgrimage to the main building, passing three cars and a motorcycle.

"Sarah," I heard a voice say smoothly from behind. A second later I turned, and was face to face with Soul again. His bike was parked at the end of the row; he leaned against it gently and smirked at me.

"Morning," he said.

"Mor—," My throat suddenly tightened. I was standing on the other side of the bike, opposite Soul, fighting the wave of conflicting emotions his presence had brought on, when I heard something odd. Piercing like an eagle's screech, and even higher pitched, it became painfully loud as I stared behind him in horror.

I saw several things simultaneously: everything moved in slow motion, just like the way it does in movies. In the sudden rush of adrenaline that flowed into my brain, I took in several crucial facts at once.

Soul was standing two feet from me, grinning at me in ignorance. His face was the only one I could see clearly from the ocean of blurred masks of shock trained upon us. More importantly, a dark blue van behind him was skidding, brake pads wailing against the locked tires, spinning across the wet and muddy parking lot. It was going to hit the silver Volvo behind me, and Soul, the motorbike and I were in its way.

I didn't even have time to think about the consequences that would inevitably arise.

Just before the van could reach us, I lept over the motorcycle and summoned my personal scythe, the reason I'm in that dangerous twilight between Meister and Weapon. Its blade was purple on top, black on the bottom, the bone white handle that sort of resembled a cross, the blade attached to one of the shorter ends. I used the handle portion to try to stop the van, and my feet rooted themselves to the concrete in anticipation of the impact.

It all happened in just a few short seconds, but it was like waiting for paint to dry. Something hit me—hard, but not from the direction I expected, which sent me flying. My head connected with the damp blacktop, and let the scythe dematerialize from my grip. I felt something warm and soft below me. Soul. We were lying on the pavement before the silver car he'd parked next to. But I didn't have a chance to notice much other than that because the van was coming around for round two. It had been repelled by my scythe and the impact's force pushed it away about a meter and a half, but, still spinning and skidding, was about to collide with us again.

A low oath below me on the blacktop told me he was still conscious. My hands went out instinctively to protect me from the out of control vehicle. A foot from my face the van shuddered to a stop, and I thanked Shinigami that this stupid strength of mine came in handy. It was one of the few traits as a Meister that I held that was exceptional. Using all the energy I had, I sent the van off balance, and it fell to its side.

Wait, wasn't there a driver in there?

_Oops..._

Muscles exhausted, I sank to my knees and tried to catch my breath. Instead I started hyperventilating and within seconds flopped to the asphalt headfirst. It was quieter than the cemetery for a full minute before someone started screaming. Bedlam surged forth; I heard dozens of people shouting our names, which was lost in the ambient confusion.

Soul slowly got up and limped over to me. He sounded like his voice had gone into a washing machine's agitator, it rumbled shaky and low. "Sarah, you...okay?"

"Fine." my voice sounded foreign, like it was someone else speaking, not me. I tried to stand again but by legs wouldn't move.

"Careful," said Soul watching me struggle. "I think you hit your head pretty hard." He winced as he knelt down to help me up. I held the side of my head, near my right ear.

"Ow~" How could I have missed that?

"Thought so," he said gravely, looping an arm around my waist. His other hand rested my arm on his neck. In seconds, a crowd of people, constantly shouting and pushing, tears streaming down their faces, eyes wide, they found us.

"Don't move," someone commanded.

"Get Ox and Harvar out of the van!" another person yelled hysterically. Activity blossomed around us and I tried to walk somewhere, but I remembered Soul was helping me stand, so I didn't budge. The sharp pain in my chest probably wasn't a good sign. One bruised rib? Two, maybe?

_Great, just great—this day was going to be super fun!_

"Just stay still for a little bit," Soul whispered to me, an edge to his tone.

"But..."

"At first you didn't stop the van with your hands," he remembered suddenly, and his eyes hardened over again like two cherry candies. "I saw a blade."

"No, you didn't see anything."

"I saw you." All around us chaos reigned in excess. Teachers and other administrators arrived on the scene. I held on to my argument so stubbornly it would make a mule proud. He was right, but I was never going to admit it, not if I wanted to be a Meister. Not if I didn't want to be expelled.

"Sarah, I was standing with you and you—," his words fell off then, but the full, heart melting power of his threatening eyes was unleashed, as if trying to confer a crucial point.

I set my jaw even though it ached too. "No. Please, Soul."

The ruby in his eyes bubbled. "Why?"

"Trust me," I rasped; the overwhelming pain was spreading from my arms.

"You promise to explain later?"

"Fine," I snapped weakly, exasperated from his prying.

"Fine," he mocked angrily.

It took two male teachers and Coach Mira to move the van so they'd be able to mobilize the stretchers. Soul refused this ardently, saying that 'cool guys don't use stretchers' and I tried the same, but he betrayed me and told them I'd hit my head when I stopped the van, and probably had a concussion among many things. It looked like the whole school assembled to watch the drama unfold. They put neck braces on us against our will and carted us up to the infirmary.

To make matters worse, Uncle Death Scythe arrived in the hallway before they could haul us away safely.

"Sarah!" he wailed when he realized the wretched form on the stretcher was me.

"I'm absolutely fine, Spi—Uncle Death Scythe," I lied. "Nothing's wrong."

…

They put us in the infirmary, a long white room with rows of cots separated by bland Manila curtains. The nurse took my blood pressure and temperature at the same time but left quickly. When she walked away I undid the Velcro from the irritating neck brace and flung it behind me. I saw Soul on the cot across from me do a similar gesture of contempt.

Another stretcher was brought in to the cot next to me after only a few seconds. Beneath the bandages wrapped around his head soaked in blood I recognized Ox Ford from my History of Souls class. He was more of a wreck than his van. His partner, Harvar, was in better shape, though, and sat on the cot across from him without anything as much as a scratch.

Ox stared at me, his thick glasses smashed and smeared with blood. "I'm so sorry guys!" he said anxiously, refusing to turn aside as the nurses began to work. His face was covered in a few shallow rows of lacerations.

"Were fine, Ox-you look terrible, you all right?" At least** I **wasn't bleeding. While I spoke, one nurse began bandaging his wounds, slowly winding them around most of one half of his head.

He nodded, which wasn't too smart. Ox winced in pain and sat still on the end of the cot. "Man, I thought I was going to kill you both! I don't know what happened. One second I was fine, but the next—maybe I was going too fast, and I hit the brakes at the wrong moment…" He flinched again as one nurse started dabbing at the other side of his face with some peroxide-like solution.

"Don't worry about it; you missed us," Soul assured him, which made my heart beat out of my chest because I'd forgotten he was there too. He was sitting on the cot cross-legged and shirtless. I know my eyes lingered on his exposed skin too long, because he gave a sudden, 'you know you want this' smile before laying back to stare at the fan circling overhead.

Ox was now staring at Soul, who, quite frankly, had calmed down faster than everyone else.

"How did you get out of the way so fast? You both were there, and then one second after that it's a blur…"

"Umm…."I shrugged.

"Simple, my Meister stopped the van with her barbarian strength."

"SOUL!"

It was true, but the way he phrased it was what had irked me.

_Wait….**my Meister?**_

Before I was done reeling over his acknowledgment of our "partner" status, he continued to explain, undeterred.

"It's true isn't it? You stopped it with your bare hands, right? That's why she's so banged up and bruised."

He sounded pretty convincing, even to me. Thank Death he kept his word.

"Really? That's amazing, I'm not _that _strong… wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Are you okay?"

"I think so."

I'm crazy. Soul had seen everything that had happened. There was no way to explain away what he'd seen.

Of course after being hauled away to have some X-rays and the affirmation that I **didn't **have a concussion, I asked if I could leave, but the nurse's assistant said I had to talk to the head nurse first. So I was trapped, waiting, harassed by Ox's constant apologies. He even promised to make it up to me. No matter how many times I tried to convince him I was fine, he continued to wangst about it.

Finally, I closed my eyes and blocked out the world. I was just about to drift off to sleep when I heard it. The slow, soft plinking of a piano floated through my ears, playing a slow, airy tune.

"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice asked quietly.

I didn't even have to guess. My eyes eased open to see that Soul stood at the foot of my bed, smirking. Despite everything that had happened, I glared at him. Apparently he'd gone off somewhere to do who knows what. But now he was back and as irritating as ever.

"So, what's the damage?" he asked me.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," I complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

"I'm absolutely fine now," he answered. "I heal fast. They already checked me over, but don't think I came to spring you."

As if on cue, the head nurse walked around the corner, and I couldn't help but stare. She was young, he was a sandy blond… and more beautiful than anyone I'd ever seen before. She was pale, tall, and very shapely. From Spirit's description, this had to be Nurse Medusa.

"So, Miss Albarn," she said in a unbelievably smooth voice, "how do you feel?"

"I'm fine," I said, lying once again. But anything was better than staying **here** of all places.

She held up the X-ray to the light and glanced at it. "Your X-rays look good." Smiling, she pat me on the head like I was some puppy. "Does your head hurt? Soul said you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," I repeated, scowling. I really don't like to be touched.

"Well, your uncle is waiting outside — you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Can't I go to class?" I asked, imagining Uncle Spirit's reaction already. He probably would blame _Soul _for the whole incident. Well, if he hadn't been standing there… Okay maybe it was a group effort.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

I glanced at Soul. "Does _he _get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Soul said smugly.

"Actually," Nurse Medusa corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the hallway."

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes. "Just peachy."

Nurse Medusa smiled again. "Do you want to stay?"

This woman was becoming a little unsettling, especially the way she was looking at me and Soul.

"Oh **hell no**!**"** I threw my legs over the side of the bed and hopped down quickly. Too quickly. I stumbled, and Soul tried to catch me, but we both ended up falling onto the floor.

"Nice catch," I told him while sprawled across his stomach. I'm guessing he wasn't as well off as he had claimed, because when I picked myself up he was still on the floor, wincing. He got up and looked at me funny.

"I'm fine," I assured him again. No need to tell him my balance problems had nothing to do with slamming my face into the asphalt. "What's wrong?"

"You're..." he looked away, holding his stomach. "it's nothing."

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," suggested Nurse Medusa, scribbling on her notepad. "and some Motrin for any swelling and inflammation."

"It doesn't hurt that bad," I told her, frowning still.

"It sounds like you two were extremely lucky," Nurse Medusa continued, still smiling. "I just hope your first mission goes this smoothly."

_Now what was **that** supposed to mean?_

"I'm just lucky that Sarah noticed the van."

My eyes flew to Soul. He was staring at me again with suspicion.

"Usually I'm very observant," he continued.

"Lucky that she happened to be standing next to you then," Nurse Medusa stated simply.

"Oh, well, yes," I agreed, suddenly occupied with my thumbs. Then the Nurse said goodbye to us both and walked to the next bed. "I'm afraid that _you'll _have to stay with us a little bit longer," she said to Ox, and began checking his injuries.

As soon as the nurse's back was turned, I moved to Soul's side.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I whispered to him softly. He took a step back from me.

"I think your Uncle's waiting for you," he said through his teeth his jaw was clenched tightly.

I glanced at Nurse Medusa and Ox.

"I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind," I insisted.

He sighed, and then walked to the door. We both went out into the hallway, but we were nearly attacked by a mob of people who had spotted us leaving. Before they could catch us, however, Soul grabbed my hand.

"Run," he told me before I could protest. I did the best I could to limp/run alongside him, and we seemed to have lost them after a few turns down some random hallways. As soon as we stopped running, he leaned against the wall and looked at me.

"Now, what exactly is it do you want?" he asked. Despite the flaming color of his eyes they were like red ice cubes. "You're the one that owes me an explanation."

_Why that ungrateful..._

"I saved your life —," I spat. "I don't owe you anything."

The reminder made him flinch. "Am I or am I not the one who promised to tell me the reason I had to pretend I didn't see anything?"

My temper flared now, and I glared defiantly at him. "Look Soul, I wanted to talk to you about something else entirely. But since you **insist**," I threw up my hands. "You hit your head; you have no idea what you're talking about."

"There's nothing wrong with my head." His tone was cutting.

I continued to glare. "Seriously, what do you want from me, Soul?"

"I want to know the truth," he said. "Why am I lying for you?"

"I think you should ask yourself that. Why did you even believe my promise?"

He paused, thinking over why he truly decided to cover for me.

"Because you're my Meister," said Soul. He put his hands in his pockets. "Because maybe for the first time since I learned I was a Weapon, there was someone who could wield me that wasn't so damned self-assured about it."

Wow. I wasn't expecting that. Not at all. My face heated up. That had to be the most heartfelt thing a guy ever said to me, which must tell you about my nonexistent love-life.

Now I was flustered for a different reason.

"Wh-we-well, what do you _think _happened?" I asked, less angry this time.

Soul sighed again. "All I know is that you were right across from me — Ox didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both — and it didn't, and then I saw—I saw you holding something. It — left a dent in the other car…" he looked at me with the utmost seriousness. "I saw a scythe."

During the whole story a lump had been forming in my throat. I bet he knew how crazy it was to say all of that, and I couldn't respond. I wasn't as mad as I was, but my heart wouldn't top racing. I was scared and I could feel the tears coming; I tried to force them back but I felt a drop roll down my face. I wiped it away with my sleeve.

Soul was staring at me incredulously. Like it was just impossible that I was crying right now.

_ This is it, _I thought, _this is the end, isn't it?_

And I'd hardly even done anything. I was going to be expelled for sure.

"You just couldn't forget about that, could you?" I said quietly. My voice was so small; it could barely leave my throat. "You're going to tell them, aren't you?"

The words were barely out of my mouth before he responded.

"I'm not going to tell anybody."

I looked up to see that he has walked closer to me. His face was softer now. Pitying me maybe?

Surprise was my most abundant emotion, though my eyes couldn't seem to stop crying. Great, now my eyes were broken.

"Then why does it matter?" I said. He was staring deep into my eyes now, and I couldn't help but look away.

Eye contact = unwanted feelings bubbling up for me.

Yes, this scene was getting way too mushy and emotional for my liking. There's a reason I avoid romance novels, and this was one of those reasons.

"Look, it matters to me," he said. "I don't like to lie — especially at the risk of expulsion. So there'd better be an **extremely** good reason why I'm doing it."

"Can't you just thank me for saving you and get over it?" I waited, expectant.

He scoffed, but smiled nonetheless at my expression. "Thank you." Soul ruffled my hair as if I was a child. Somehow I didn't mind a bit, it just felt like he was being more of himself. More of what his wavelength described him to be.

I sniffed. "You're not going to let it go, are you?"

"No. But what gets me is this: why did you even bother?"

I couldn't say anything to that. I simply shook my head and shrugged.

"Well, okay, you don't have to answer everything at once." With a flick of his wrist he pointed down the hallway. "Everyone's going to get some _ideas_ if we don't reappear soon, so might I suggest we go back to class?"

"Fine." Wiping the last of the tears away, I began to follow him in his trek back to class. Then what he said began to sink in. "What do you mean by," I used air quotes for the next word, "**ideas**?"

It was then his face turned a peculiar tinge of pink.

"Er, nothing," he said quickly, walking faster as he did. "Nothing at all."

- . -

Turns out nothing at all, definitely means **something**. When we made it to Weapons Bio, there was, can I say, implosion of activity, with us at its center.

"Are you OK?" asked a few concerned acquaintances. "Are you hurt?"

"There's nothing wrong with me," I assured them all. Soul kept quiet behind me, despite all the attention we were getting.

And then concern faded to curiosity.

"So," said Jackie to Soul. "Where were you two after you escaped from the infirmary?"

"J-just hanging out," he said, turning pink again.

I was confused. Why was he so embarrassed? And Jackie's expression was equally puzzling.

"Oh," said Kim slyly. "You were '**hanging out**', huh?"

"Y'think that's code for making out," whispered Jackie, loud enough for everyone in class to hear.

_Okay, I've acknowledged that I'm slow. So please forgive me for not realizing it earlier what they meant._

I had sat there for a full half minute scratching my head and looking confused. Meanwhile, Soul turned the same color as his eyes as the Jackie and Kim giggled. "Making out" where had I heard that term. And then it hit me. And suddenly I was pissed off all over again.

"Soul!"I yelled, pointing at him. "How could you just **sit there** and let them say that? You blushing doesn't help!"

"I, uh, well..." he looked away, still embarrassed.

"So it's true?" asked Kim. She grinned.

"It is so NOT true!" I retorted. "We were just standing in the hallway talking!"

Then I realized how bad _that_ sounded.

"Not like that!" I said, noting how hard they were trying not to laugh.

"You sure are getting worked up about it," said Jackie, rubbing her hand up and down my back as reassurance. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I've never done it in my life so, don't say that."

Everyone stared at me.

"What? It's not a crime to have never kissed someone."

After that, no one made anymore wise-cracks.

…

When I finally got home, Uncle Spirit hugged me so tight I thought I was going to break.

"OW~" I groaned, showing that hugs were not for survivors of accidents.

"Oh, right. Sorry," he said, releasing me. He babbled on about how happy he was that I was okay, and then he dropped the bombshell.

"Um… you'll need to call Kami." Guilt was evident on his face, and I could tell that it was from the lecture she gave.

My mouth fell open. "Oh my Shinigami, you told Auntie!"

"I'm sorry!"

For yet another time today, I couldn't sleep. I walked over to the house phone in the kitchen and dialed her cellphone number.

Auntie Kami was in livid, of course, at my self-sacrifice. But she still threw in that I could have probably handled it better. For example, dragging Soul out of the way.

That would have been a great idea at the time, actually, but my reflexes are weird. I had to tell her how okay I was before she would stop nagging.

After I finished talking to her I decided I might as well go to bed early that night. Maka continued to watch me suspiciously, and it was getting on my nerves. She got to talk to her mom before me, so I didn't think much of it. As I lay in bed I though over the day. I was consumed by the mystery, and frustration Soul presented. He was certainly a challenge. And as much as I didn't want to admit it, I was little obsessed by Soul himself.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid. _

Surprisingly though, after a while I drifted off to sleep.

And even less surprisingly, that was the first night I dreamed of Soul Eater Evans.

**Yes, and chapter three is finished. Finally. Four is coming soon, so stay tuned!**

**And a lot of crazy things are going to go down, so please be patient.**


	5. Chapter 4 (Part One)

**_I think this is where things will start to become bizarre from the crossover point-of-view. Expect some more foreshadowing, and if you haven't found it in the other chapters, you'll connect the dots very very soon. At least I hope you do._**

**_. . ._**

* * *

4. Invitations**- **Us vs. Stein, who will win?

In my dream it was velvety black all around us. I was standing in a small room. What dim light there was glowed softly from a few tall candelabras around me as I stood, staring straight ahead. They were dark, twisted forms of ebony iron that held ghostly white candles with blue flames. Soul was directly across from me, sitting in a chair. I couldn't see his face clearly because his head was tilted forward in such a way that his bangs hid his features. The floor was covered in alternating black and red tiles.

A grim checkerboard.

Soul lifted his head to look at me. His eyes were grey, distant, and blank, but most of all they were dark and calculating.

"Your move," he said, flashing that incredibly sharp smile before lunging at me. His arm was transformed into his scythe's blade, and with one motion it sliced right through my torso. Blood splattered everywhere and I couldn't move, the pain was so crippling I wanted to cry out but couldn't.

Before I could do anything he laughed darkly and smiled.

"Checkmate," Soul whispered into my ear.

…

A shiver rattled through me and I woke up panting. Looking at my Lord Death alarm clock, I saw his large white hands pointing to the 2 and 6. It was 2:30.

After that, he was in my dreams nearly every night, and never in a positive light. I could sense there was something _menacing_ about him, but I still couldn't pinpoint quite what it was.

The week after the accident wasn't too bad, actually. Soul didn't seem as stressed as he normally did around me, and we got through Combat class well enough. We didn't talk much, though, that was the only problem. Well, other than Ox.

Ox was being impossible over the whole thing, really. Following me around, talking to me all the time. I bet he somehow thought he was making it up to me by being so attentive, but it was bordering on stalkerish. I told him to forget all about it — since nothing terrible happened to us — but when it came to that he was holding the Idiot Ball if you ask me . He followed me between classes and occasionally sat at the lunch table with the rest of my new "friends". Kilik and Kid weren't even enthusiastic that I had gained another charm on my keyring of friends. They were less friendly toward him than they were to each other.

What concerned me most was that no one seemed at all worried about Soul. It was only when I realized the reason for that lied within my unhealthy preoccupation with the guy. Sure, he was cute; I never denied that. But _why_ was I so hung up on him all the time? I bet the counselor would say it was a case of unresolved 'daddy issues'. At least, that's what they usually say on TV.

Soul was _never, _and I mean **_never_** hounded by the other students nearly as much as I had been since "the incident' as Soul and I refer to it. People just ignored him as usual, save for Maka and their two friends. They sat at the same table, eating, talking only with each other and no one else. None of them, but most notably Soul, bothered to look my way during lunch. Or at least when I bothered to check.

When he sat next to me in class he seemed wrapped up in his own thoughts. His arms were always folded within one another, and he seemed to sink into the table as if extremely exhausted. Always, he'd bite his bottom lip rather contemplatively, staring off into space. I wonder what he was thinking of in those times. Sometimes I would sneak a peek into his soul, and just speculate. I wished I could ask him about it, but he didn't seem like he should be disturbed. Soul just looked…tried and plain old sad. Maybe he wished I hadn't saved him from Ox's van — there was no other conclusion I could come to other than that painfully depressing thought.

Was he really that suicidal?

Maybe it was I was wishing it had killed us both.

I wanted to talk to him to straighten things out between us, and I just knew my cowardice was getting in the way of that. The time in the hallway when I spoke with him after the accident, I wanted…I, I really don't know what I wanted to say to him that day. I still was angry that I had so foolishly brandished my scythe in plain daylight. But somehow when I saw his face lying unconscious in the parking lot, the feelings of worry dissolved on the spot.

I must really be insane if he's affecting me this way.

…

He was already there by the time I arrived in sixth period. I sat down and unloaded my books. Evidently Mr. Sid was absent, because I hadn't seen him for Literature earlier that day, and he clearly wasn't late because he still wasn't here. This was the

"Hello, Soul," I said quietly.

"Hey," he said. To my surprise he cracked a small lopsided grin.

"What's up?" I asked him, noticing with a bit of chagrin that I was beginning to smile as well.

"Sid's gone," he said, suddenly frowning at the desk where the teacher usually sits. "I heard he died, actually."

"He WHAT?"

It was like the floor fell out from beneath me. Regaining my sanity, I shot him an incredulous look. Surely he was joking, but somehow I couldn't see him kidding about something like this.

Soul faced me fully and looked me in the eyes. His face was stone-still. Definitely not joking. "It's true, two days after…well you know."

"No one told me, I—," I said, searching for the right words.

Shrugging, he rested his head in one of his palms.

"Well, the teachers were keeping it quiet. I heard it just yesterday myself."

"Then how'd you find out?"

"I was eavesdropping," said Soul simply.

After about a minute of explanation, we settled back into silence. Turns out Mr. Sid was found in his apartment with a statue of liberty figurine sticking out of his forehead. What a way to go, I mean, it obviously was a murder. What if that maniac was still on the loose?

As I thought this over, a loud bang interrupted my worries.

It echoed across the room, and everyone nearly leapt out of their seats into a battle stance. Everyone except Soul and I, actually.

Yeah, if it were an enemy Soul and I would be dead.

Instead of a substitute teacher, Uncle Spirit was standing in the doorway, all 6 feet of him. He strode over to the blackboard and slapped a thick folder onto the teacher's desk. It landed with a loud _CRACK!_ and everyone started to murmur.

"All right, all right," he said darkly. "Settle down everyone. Class is about to start."

Inside my mind I was screaming. I knew that voice. It was his "tough" tone; the same voice he reserved for any boy that dared to even _look_ Maka's way.

"I'm not going to bother taking attendance," he continued to keep up his tall dark and scary act, and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes, laughing, or both. "But I will tell you one thing right now. Anyone who thinks the _bell _decides when class is over is wrong, I do. Clear?" He jabbed his thumb toward his chest and held his face in an angry glare that scanned the whole classroom. I thought I heard some stifled 'oh's and 'ah's, and Soul looked annoyed and on the brink of hysterics. It was quite the interesting combination to see, actually.

"Hey, is it me or is that dumb uncle of yours making that goofy face _right at us_?"

Turning away from the 'I know I'm cool' look, I rest my head in my palms. Well, more like nearly gave myself a concussion with both my hands.

_Facepalm, apply directly to face._

"I think it's just you," I said.

No, it wasn't true; he really _did_ have that inane look pointed at us.

What Soul said next nearly killed me on the spot, considering he blurted it out for the whole class to hear. I wanted to staple his mouth shut, but it was too late.

"What's with this Death Scythe?" he said. (Very rudely, I might add.) " Are you supposed to be our new teacher or something?" Soul was leaning back in his chair, balancing his feet on the table in front of us, and I wondered how he'd gotten in that position while I was applying my Facepalm. Evidently Uncle Spirit was ignoring the tone of his question, because he replied in a very mild voice. Relief caused me to sigh. This was good. Maybe it was because I was sitting here, but that couldn't have been it, could it?

"For now I'm just a substitute," said my uncle. "And that's _Professor_ Death Scythe to you." He took his clipboard from the desk and whipped out a pen. "Alright then, let's take attendance."

"I thought you weren't going to take attendance?" said Soul, who, frankly, was pushing his luck as of late.

Uncle Spirit didn't miss a beat. "I'm not going to take attendance for the guys," he said bluntly. Then his voice suddenly was playful. "But I think I will for all the** ladies**."

He winked in the general direction of the class and flashed a smile. I must say he didn't look all that bad, but at the time I was cringing too much to notice. From now on I'm going to pretend in the hallways that I don't see him.

_'…oh this is embarrassing_…'

"Quit being a creep," muttered Soul under his breath.

I thought I saw Uncle Spirit flinch after the statement. He marked something down on his clipboard rather haphazardly.

_'What did he just write down?'_

"Ah, that reminds me," said our 'suave' substitute. "Soul, Sarah, Lord Death wants to see you in the Death Room. You're excused from class."

At first we thought he was joking. When he saw we weren't moving he motioned with his clipboard that we really were required to leave.

"Go on, shoo shoo," he said, waving us away.

"He wants to see us?" said Soul and I at the same time.

After the phrase escaped from our mouths, we gave each other an awkward glance and got up to go.

…

So here we were in the Principal's office. To give him some credit, it looked slightly different than from when I first enrolled. The large mirror that had been off to the side before was now more central in relation to the giant white platform in the middle of the room. Well, at least when you first walk in. What surprised us most when we got there was that there were already people here.

Unfortunately it was my older cousin and her other two friends that she and Soul would often talk to at lunch. I never met the two of them before, but I wasn't too thrilled at seeing them at this moment.

"What exactly is this about?" said Soul. His hands were in his pockets, and I was about to snark about his bad posture, but Lord Death appeared just in time.

"Hello students!"

The dark, assymetrical figure of the personification of death faded into view from the mirror in front of us.

"Morning, Lord Death," we all said, like the polite children we should be.

"I'm sure you all are wondering why I've called you here," said Lord Death, bouncing as he did. We all nodded. "Well, none of you have captured any souls." He paused for effect. "Because of that, you do know that you are close to being expelled, right?"

"What?" we all shouted. Nothing but shock was on our faces; he couldn't have been joking, could he?

"So, I've got mission for you six to redeem yourselves!"

"…"

**Hook Cemetery…**

Maka was like our master general, directing us in the direction to which we should walk. She was 100% optimistic that we would achieve our goal and return to the academy without being expelled. "Everyone, on your toes," she ordered. "There's no knowing where he could be."

Unfortunately I was born a realist. "Yeah, o-ok," I droned.

"Right," said Soul, staring at the grave in front of him.

The blue-haired ninja was beside him, examining the headstone as well. "You sure he's even here? Don't zombies, like, walk around?"

Tsubaki tried to calm the boys down. "Well, we should check his grave to be sure, right?"

Truth is that we searched the entire graveyard. Twice. Zip, Zero, nothing but dead bodies and stuff. Even if Sid was a zombie and we by some miracle found him, wouldn't he try to eat our brains or something?

I sat against a tree, knees folded to my chest. "We're getting expelled for sure…" My anger flared up, exasperation permeating my every thought. "Grrr, where are you hiding?"

Soul looked in my direction and shot me a Look. "Hey, calm down. I'm sure he's here somewhere." He focused on the grave again and scratched the back of his head. "But to make us wait like this is so uncool. I mean, come out and fight us already." He stomped the ground like an irritated horse.

"D'ythink he could be somewhere in Death City?" suggested Black*Star.

Soul looked like he was going to explode from that terrible idea. "So what, we gotta search the whole city?"

I was too busy paying attention to the content of the boys' discussion to notice, but now that I think about it, I could have prevented it. Something was off. There was a weird aura about this place, but I couldn't figure out why. All I could hear was this pinging noise, like in those movies when the characters are in a submarine, and there's the sonar? It was getting louder and louder, and it was starting to hurt because of the intensity, but—

An arm shot up from the ground and grabbed me by the ankle.

I was too freaked out to do anything but scream. I didn't even get a chance to hold my skirt over my legs.

"Sarah!" said Maka and Soul.

A stinking corpse of blue flesh was facing me as I hung upside down. My eyes immediately welled up with tears. The

"Are you afraid to die, girl?" asked the zombie as his rank moldy breath wafted into my face.

Well to be honest, of course I was scared. If a reanimated corpse were to grab you by the ankle without warning, wouldn't you be a little bothered?

But then a scythe came spinning toward us—separating me from our former teacher. Soul's face was reflected in the blade.

"You okay?" he asked, probably noting the tearstains that already were on my cheeks.

I wiped away the water on my face, standing upright. "Just peachy."

"So you finally showed up," Maka said, stepping forward. Her greatcoat flapped in the breeze like one of those action heroines you see in movies.

However, jealousy wasn't on my mind at the moment. Instead, I yanked Soul out of the ground, his blade making a small _clink _as it separated from the dirt.

What was once out teacher Mr. Sid stood upright, slightly slouched over and with his finger loosely curled. "Maka, Soul, Black*Star, Tsubaki, nice to see you. How have you been?"

What about me? No hellos? I narrowed my eyes, and Maka did the same from what I noticed.

My cousin cracked her knuckles. "We've come to stop you."

Mr. Sid didn't seem to care at all. In fact, he was grinning very widely. "Don't you realize what you're giving up? If you become like me, the fear of Death no longer looms over you."

Become a reanimated corpse? Um…no way—far too gross. I'd rather swim in a sewer than that. I'm sure Maka was thinking the same, because she told him just how twisted that idea was.

"That's wrong and you know it," said Maka, sneering.

Black*Star was tired of talking. Tsubaki had transformed while I had been distracted, and she was in his hands already. She was an interesting weapon to look at, even more captivating than her human body. Two small handheld scythes, connected by a long silver chain—each of the bladed weapons gripped within the blue-haired boy's fists.

"Enough of this, lets fight!" shouted Black*Star.

"Just what I was thinking," said Soul.

_'Me too.'_

Maka attacked first. She launched herself off the ground and swung her left leg towards Sid. Black*Star followed up by throwing one of the scythes. He dodged both attacks by simply leaning to the right. But it was long enough to distract him from Soul and I.

I swung the blade downwards, not quite missing his left arm. With a clank the scythe contacted with the ground, rattling the bones in my arms. However it had grazed the Air Force blue skin, and to my surprise a thin line of red leaked from the surface. To defend himself Mr. Sid aimed a kick at my face so I had to lean back and try to tug at Soul to dislodge him from the ground.

Unfortunately he grabbed my ankle again.

This time I was sent barreling into a tombstone. My lungs collapsed on themselves, the air pushed out of them from the impact.

Mr. Sid laughed at us, folding his arms and glancing at the injury we had given him. I saw Maka and Black*Star exchange wary looks before standing their ground, ready for another one of his attacks.

"You two seem to work well together, but there's something missing."

Just what in hell was this zombified teacher talking about?

"Oh yeah? What?" Soul appeared on the blade's surface, and looked at Sid, baring his teeth. "I'm hungry. We should just get his damn soul already."

"…"

Maka and the others were silent, holding their positions for now. Our former teacher had picked up his tombstone, probably to use it against us. Sid shrugged and tilted his head to the side like a confused dog. Maybe it was obvious to everyone else, but certainly not us.

"The only way to unlock your true potential is to resonate your souls," he said, taking on his lecture-hall voice.

"You're giving the enemy advice?" Black*Star threw one of Tsubaki's blades toward Sid, and when the man dodged, he tried to kick his stomach in, but instead Sid grabbed his leg and threw him aside the same way I had been tossed earlier.

"That's the stupidest thing _I _ever heard!" Maka agreed, thrusting both palms upwards to his face. With a well-aimed kick he swept her feet from under her and my cousin tumbled backward.

"I always was an enthusiastic educator!"

Faster than I could think possible, he picked up the fallen tombtone beside him and swung it downwards.

_"Living End!"_

_"MAKA!" _We all cried out as the tombstone fell, and a gust of air erupted from the impact. I had to shield my eyes from the dust that arose and exploded in every direction. When the debris cleared I had expected the worst, maybe some blood.

We were all pretty shocked to see her uninjured. Maka was upside down, with her legs in the air and parallel to her torso. Her arms were propping her up, and she was looking up at

The tombstone was wedged into the ground again, this time between her thighs. It had missed her skull by only a fraction of a centimeter.

"Well, you may not want fear, but we need it to survive, and grow stronger!"

The black and white boots slammed into Sid's face. Her legs thrust downwards and she was standing on his face for a few seconds before she launched off and landed beside me.

"You okay?" I asked.

She nodded in response. "And you?"

"Could be better." I ignored the slight pain in my ribs and held Soul out in a defensive position.

Soul appeared again before us in the blade. "Quick, Sarah, while he's distracted, we should try it."

"What are you saying? Resonance?" His idea had to be crazy. Obviously it had been a trap, he wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.

My soul and his? No, no, even if we were compatible there was just no way.

"It looks like we have no choice," he said grimly.

I snorted. Not very refined for a lady, but I'm sure he was right. "Fine."

I twirled him over my head, like I'd seen hundreds of times before when Mama and Papa would practice sparring against Will and Danny. The hum from before was growing louder in my ears. _It's time, Sarah, _said the voice in my head.

"Let's go, Soul Resonance!"

To resonate your souls, concentration is key. I felt a part of me reach out, and connect with Soul, a fluttering in my chest from anxiety. I could feel that tingling sensation from before. I could hear that strange noise from before. A thumping, like the beat of a heart, it was a deep pounding noise—a bass drum. A steady even beat, and I could hear the tinkling of light, fanciful notes—definitely from a piano.

"They're—!" Maka had stood back, but the spiritual pressure was probably very great from where she was standing.

"Woah, cool," Black*Star shouted.

"Move out of the way, guys." Soul warned the others.

"The Ancient Super-Skill of the Sythemiesther!" I lifted Soul up, a light glowing from his blade and it morphed from a normal scythe to a moon-shaped form.

The power that had suddenly rushed into me…it was intoxicating.

My eyes were focused on Sid this entire time, and I thought I had imagined it, but in the back of my mind there was a maddening laughter.

My feet, as always, had to mess things up. When I swung the attack in Sid's direction I twisted my torso to put some power into it. Below me, my converses slipped in the mud, and Soul went flying. In his wake a trench of pure destruction was carved into the ground where his blade met the earth. My head felt dizzy, but I ran to pick him up.

"Idiot, what were you _thinking_? You're too careless."

He had nerve, telling me that. Careless? I should really strangle him for saying that.

"Careless? I'm just a bit clumsy," I corrected him. Hopefully he would get the message and shut his mouth. We had bigger things to worry about, like getting expelled.

Unfortunately he can't take a hint. "It was stupid." The impudent scythe began to shake in my hands. It was like he was having a tantrum. "You put too much power into that swing. No wonder it failed. Die!"

My heart clenched. "How could you say that? YOU die! _Burn to death_, you jerk."

Tsubaki was the one to eventually break us up. "Guys? Sid's gone."

Oh no, not again. "Where'd he go?"

"Underground."


	6. Chapter 4 (Part Two)

**_So, things are picking up again. I won't go on hiatus for so long again, I hope._**

* * *

4. Invitations**-**Us vs. Stein, who will win? (Part Two)

God, why must you punish me? I can't believe it. I'm chained to Soul and Maka, (which already sounds suggestive) and there's nothing I can do about it. Moreover, Sid is caught in between us, and he reeks worse than his breath.

Imagine a pile of dirty socks. Now, add in soiled underwear. Throw in a landfill full of those and you're only halfway to how bad he stunk. The only thing that disgusted me nearly as much that I could compare it to would have to be my long-time nemesis of liver and onions. (Seriously, don't ask…)

Bottom line? I was going to puke. Okay, on the brink of doing so, but still pretty grossed out here. Maka I could tell was looking slightly green herself. Soul I bet was glad not to have a nose at the moment.

So how exactly had we gotten into this predicament?

Well…

* * *

_Rewind_ «

* * *

Black*Star, Maka, and I had our backs to one another in a triangular formation. That way, we wouldn't be ambushed from behind by Sid, who was burrowing in the soil like Bugs Bunny. One of Tsubaki's mini-scythes was encircling us constantly, hovering over the ground. The other scythe was held in front of Black*Star. His eyes were closed, and he muttered under his breath every few seconds.

"Tsubaki, track him for me, okay?"

On the scythe blade I saw Tsubaki nod. "Right."

_Ping!...Bloop. Ping!...Bloop. Ping!...Bloop. Ping!...Bloop._

There was that annoying noise again echoing inside my head. It hurt, too! It was picking up speed as well, and I could only speculate as to why it kept on repeating. Maybe I was right? Maybe it was some type of Soul Sonar that Tsubaki was emitting?

_Ping. Bloop. Ping. Bloop. PingBloopPingBloopPingbloop._

And then the giant blue monster-man jumped up from the dirt. Instinctively I protected myself in the best way I could, by holding up Soul in front of my face like the coward I was. Behind me I heard a little "hmph".

"Got you!" shouted Black*Star, who yanked on Tusbaki's chains. It was then that I realized that Maka and I were standing in a very inconvenient place. Black*Star really was as stupid as he looked, and we were no better. The chains wrapped around Mr. Sid, effectively trapping him. Unfortunately it also roped in Maka, Soul and I.

"You idioooot!" shouted Maka, kicking her legs. Meanwhile, I was slumped forward, trying to keep my breakfast down.

At lease he was a good sport and untied us. Tsubaki stood to the side, partially transformed. From the end of her hair a single chain was encircled around Mr. Sid, and the zombie glared at us without saying anything. Soul had been trying to get information out of our captive about who had turned him into this abomination. Still, Mr. Sid didn't look like he was giving us any inclination of talking.

"Hmmmm…." Black*Star hadn't even tried to interrogate him this whole time, but I had a feeling he had an idea.

In my opinion it was both very brilliant and shockingly stupid.

"Here." He simply lifted up the front of Tsubaki's outfit. It was rather loose-falling I now noticed, and with the proper guidance, could expose most of her undergarments and legs. I for one wasn't the only one who stared. Black lace, very classy I must say.

I was shocked to hear that in exchange for that, Sid graciously told us that a certain mad scientist by the name of Dr. Franken Stein was the one who reanimated his corpse. Who knew he would spill his secrets so easily? And for underwear at that!

The problem was, we didn't know where the guy lived. Sure, maybe a rational person would have asked Lord Death himself where such a man lived. He _was_ **death **after all. He should know.

However, Black*Star was not the genius I thought he was. The same flash of Tsubaki's panties obviously wouldn't work a second time. So the blue-haired boy decided he was going to flip _Maka's_ skirt this time. In my opinion the boy was looking for a death wish.

Its plainness was surprising. Just some blah, white underwear without any frills or designs. It didn't even reveal much at all. However, despite the lack of a reaction from Sid, Maka was visibly pissed off. From out of nowhere, (and I mean _nowhere_) a red textbook came flying at top speed to hit all of the boys present in one strike. Maka's accuracy was astounding. Their heads were spurting blood from the impact, and they all were curled on the ground in pain.

"I'll tell you where he is," said Sid weakly.

He may have been dead, but he had an ounce of sense not to challenge Maka's anger second time.

* * *

…

* * *

He was waiting for us. Yes, that was a fact we had not expected. Standing outside of the laboratory was an extremely tall man. I'd probably go so far as to call him lanky, but it was clear that was only a cursory examination. He had a mop of grey hair and spectacles. His attire was what you'd expect of a mad scientist, a long white lab coat. Speaking of his lab coat it was covered in stitches. As was his face. Well. There was only one large stitch across the bridge of his nose that extended to the left side more than the other.

"So you've finally arrived," said the man Sid had told was named 'Franken Stein'. His name was frightening enough, but that slithering voice made my heart drop. A giant screw(or was it a bolt?) was lodged though his head, a physical quirk that had an unsettling irony to it. He had been expecting us, and we arrived later than he expected. That was not a good sign. That means we were worse than he had initially thought. The way he said the statement was in a flat monotone, almost bored-sounding. In his left hand a cigarette was still burning, a trail of smoke rising from its end, and he brought it to his lips casually to take a puff.

"We've come to stop you, Stein." Maka was at the front, staring him down as if she were going to murder the man on the spot. He was, after all, the reason her underwear had been displayed for all to see.

At Stein's side was a rolling chair. He sat down as Maka was speaking. He nodded when she was finished. "So you think you can stop me."

Obviously not a question.

"We _will_ stop you," affirmed Maka, pointing to the man.

I for one wasn't so sure about that. Besides, he didn't seem concerned by our presence. In fact, he was at ease. As he sat, he turned the bolt… _T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t… _the screw in his head revolved, his right hand turning it with an unsettling speed. It's a wonder how it didn't scramble his brains. _T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t…_CLICK. It stopped turning and made that sharp, jarring noise that we all jumped at. Even Maka was a little startled by the noise and she bit her lip.

"Um, Soul?"

He gave me a sidelong glance. "Yeah?"

"Isn't there something odd about this guy?"

"Hmm? Like what?"

Stein suddenly plopped into the chair, which visibly sunk into the ground and gave a loud squeak. "You two are quite interesting." The glare on his glasses left for a second, and I saw for a brief moment, a pair of blank green eyes. "Your souls are so different….yet so similar. Soul Resonance must really be something between you…"

Was he talking about Soul and I? Well, he was staring straight at us so… wait. Hold it.

"Can you see our souls?!"

He nodded in the moonlight. "Of course."

So Lord Death sent us after a rogue Meister? Did he want us to die or something? Ok, that sounded really redundant, but that's my only thought on the matter at the moment.

"Enough staring!" Oh, that ninja was up to something again, damn it!

"For once, Black*Star's right," Maka tightened one of her pigtails.

I reached out my hand. "Soul." There was a flash of light and a rushing of wind. For the second time tonight I was holding him within my hands, and the power of wielding such a weapon surged through my whole body.

Black*Star was the first to attack; Tsubaki at the ready, and a dangerous current of power emanating from his soul. Stein was still sitting there, no concern for us at all. He deflected Black*Star's blow with his arm, but the force sent him spinning. We thought that would create an opening, but he was fast to block yet another attack as he came around. His hand twisted around, his fingers curled, and there was a large force that pushed the blue-haired boy back several meters. I could hear his knuckles cracking even at this distance. There was a loud feedback of noise at that moment, like a distorted amplifier.

Black*Star clutched his stomach and sunk to one knee. "How…is that possible?"

"Your wavelength I so erratic I wondered how your partner could stand it," Stein said, staring at Black*Star as he was doubled over in pain. "But once I saw your partner's accommodating soul, I understood." He gave a thumbs up. "You two are a perfect match."

The man stood again, the chair behind him now.

"You damn…" Black*Star attempted again to attack, without Tsubaki. He left her on the ground where he'd fallen and ran to our target. This time he planted his feet firmly in the ground and slammed his hands into Stein's side. "BLACK*STAR BIG WAVE!"

I felt a large pulse ripple through me, but overall…

…nothing happened.

This seemed to shock Black*Star, who backed away as if he'd seen the king of demons himself.

"My turn." Stein's hands gripped Black*Star's skull, which began to twitch spastically. It went on for a couple of seconds before he began to bleed out of his mouth and eyes. The red liquid was dripping onto the concrete below and creating a pool that would cause anyone to feel concerned.

Tsubaki immediately transformed and looked her Meister with a helpless expression.

"Black*Star!" she yelled in worry.

"Leave him alone!" Maka said, taking this opportunity to try some of her ultra-cool judo moves. Stein was still pretty fast, and countered her chops as quickly as she could give them. I jumped into the mix, trying to swipe at him with Soul, and trying very hard not to chop up my cousin.

I got snagged by one of his weird force blasts, though, and I was thrown backwards. My hands inadvertently let go of Soul and he went skittering in another direction.

"Sarah!" cried my cousin, reaching out towards us.

Stein paused the ass-whipping he was dishing out for a moment. "Sarah?" He began turning his bolt again. "Scythe-Meister Sarah, Scythe-Meister Sarah, now why does that seem familiar?"

I struggled to even lift myself from the ground to look at him. My whole body felt wiggly, like jelly, but it also ached like someone had thrown a box of hammers on me. Why would that seem familiar to him?

He finally understood, and punched his fist into his palm. "Oh, I know. You're Chad's little daughter and your mother was a Meister!" With an equally shady smile he turned his attention to Maka. "Which means…you're Spirit's little hellion, Maka."

"Hellion?" she asked, enraged further.

I had to agree. Maka was far from a troublemaking student. In fact, if you asked me, then I'd have to say she was too serious and too anal-retentive.

It certainly didn't stop her from trying to bum rush a hostile party, though.

Stein was unfazed. He probably had planned on this mode of attack. With the speed of lightning he grabbed one of Maka's pigtails and forcibly held her close. His lips hovered near her right ear. The other hand was busy lifting up her shirt and sweater-vest.

More sexual-harassment, just perfect.

Her midriff was a light peach, perfectly smooth in appearance and most likely very soft to the touch. Which Stein was doing at the moment, touching her exposed stomach.

"You have lovely skin," he said in a husky voice. "Let's see if I can turn it to sandpaper."

"Like hell you are!" I already had Soul back into my hands, but my legs were proving hard to move. It was like wading through molasses in order to stand.

"Sarah, we should try it again."

I already knew what he was talking about. It seemed we had no choice.

"Planning on resonating?" said Stein. "Go ahead." He seemed full of confidence at finding out our plan so quickly.

I hesitated, but the look Soul was giving me from his reflection in the blade…it didn't matter if I was afraid. It didn't matter if Stein was so powerful. We still had to try.

Again, I felt out wavelengths reach out towards one another. His was so wild and jumpy, so…bloodthirsty…it was shocking. A blush rose to my cheeks. I twirled the scythe. My body felt warm all over, and the temperature was rising.

Our wavelengths exploded when they touched.

"AH!" I couldn't help but let that exclamation escape. From my fingers to my toes, my whole body included, I could feel the power raging. "The ancient super-skill of the Sythemeister," I said quietly. Soul's thoughts, his heart, had connected with mine, and his anger was unbelievably strong.

I raised the transformed blade high and took off running. My feet moved on their own toward Stein. He dropped Maka and moved left. I could feel both of our anger, our sorrows, our pain. It was so overwhelming I couldn't even form the emotion on my face. It just manifested as a mask of calm. I veered in the direction he had leaned, bringing down the scythe with an emotionless expression. It still missed, connecting with the stone below. Bricks were ripped up in its wake, and some of them were dissolved on impact from the energy.

"Tch!" Stein, whose sleeve had been grazed by the attack, tried charging up a wavelength and launching it at me.

Again, I reacted on instinct, using Soul as support to flip over his outstretched hand and land on my feet. In a single motion I twisted around by my midsection, holding the scythe with both hands. Stein ducked this time.

Another attack. And another. All of them dodged last second by the rogue Meister. I could feel the hatred growing even more. Recklessly I attacked from directly above his head. I saw a delightfully panicked expression flit across his face before the end came for Soul and I.

He did the most impossible thing in the world.

Stein…caught the Witch-Hunter blade technique as if it were a normal sword.

No, the anger that was out power began giving way to fear. I tried bringing it down with my brute force, but Stein wasn't any slouch. He may have been just as strong, maybe even stronger. Because instead of him losing a grip and I slicing through him, he sunk into the paved area, cracking the ground.

"Very nice," he said. "But…" A homicidal expression emerged on his face. "NOT GOOD ENOUGH!"

The world ended. He broke out technique with a single vague twisting motion. The backlash sent Soul and I careening backwards and in different directions. I was paralyzed when I heard the scythe clatter against the ground. Still, I reached out to him weakly.

"Soul," I whispered.

But then a cold shadow obscured my view of him and the moon, which had blood leaking from its mouth. I shivered, anticipating the end. The form of Stein crouched down close to me, looking into my barely open eyes.

'_I'm sorry Mama, Papa! I couldn't become like you at all._'

"You're still conscious? Now that is amazing."

This was it.

"Stop!" Soul's voice rang out over the shame raging in my mind. It caused my eyes to spring open on their own, tears already falling over my cheeks. When I looked up I saw Soul over me in his human form, scratches all over his hands and from what I could see, possibly his face too. The lunatic must have transformed the second Stein had walked over. He brought me into his arms, using himself as a shield. "I won't let you lay a finger on my Meister!" he snarled.

That seemed to humorous to Stein. "Alright," he said, sounding like he was on the brink of maniacal laughter. "Then you're first." His hand came in contact with Soul's head lightly. "You pass."

"Excuse me?" Soul blinked several times.

"This was all a test from Lord Death. You passed with flying colors."

Maka, Soul, Black*Star and Tsubaki all let out a giant "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

We had never been in any danger of expulsion. I repeat: We had never been in any danger of expulsion. It was all a test. Stein explained this to us with a smile. I for one was too angry to speak. I hadn't had quite the reaction the others had. I had continued to cry despite the test being over.

"I'm sorry," said Stein in response to my hysteria. "Was I too scary?"

I still couldn't answer. My hands were pressed over my mouth to stop any sound from coming out. If I opened my mouth now, I'd probably start wailing like a baby.

Soul continued to hold me in his arms despite it. I don't know why I couldn't stop. Maybe it was the thought of leaving the Academy for good. Maybe it was the thought of seeing my parents again that got me so choked up. Either way, he was being very kind to let me cry it out.

"I'm fine, stupid."

"Like hell you are," said Soul, repeating my declaration from before. "I'm not as stupid as you think."

"So, everyone, I'm sure you're all tired." Stein stood before us as if we were good buddies for years upon years. "If you want, you all can stay at my place."

True, it was late and we all were exhausted, but I didn't want to stay at this horrible place. Not after this fight.

"That's a big fat 'no'," Maka spat, smoothing down her clothes and holding back her anger at basically being molested by this crazy old man. "Let's go. I saw a hotel down the street from here."

* * *

...

* * *

Days passed since the 'zombie incident' as we all called it. Truth be told, it was a shock to hear the Stein was our new teacher since Sid was technically 'deceased'. I mean, when he walked into class the next morning instead of Uncle Death Scythe, Soul and I were frozen with fear the entire period.

In the meantime, Jackie had alerted me to the next foreboding event on our social horizon — she called to ask my permission to invite Kilik to the girls' choice spring dance that was happening in a couple of weeks. I didn't even plan on bringing anyone, let alone Kilik.

"… and you're _completely_ _sure_ you weren't planning to ask him?" she said when I encouraged her to go for it.

"I don't plan on going," I assured her. Dancing was glaringly outside my range of special abilities. One of which included tying a cherry's stem with my tongue, but that was a story for another day.

"You could have more fun than you expect."

"You have fun with Kilik," I said in response, ignoring her invitation completely. I wasn't about to cave in and humiliate myself at the dance.

The next day, I was surprised by how quiet Jackie was during classes. She was silent as she walked by my side in between the periods, and I had a good hunch why. My suspicions were confirmed during lunch. Jackie had sat as far away from Kilik as she could and chatted with Kidand I. Now that I think back, Kilik himself was also unusually quiet.

In fact, he was _still_ quiet as he and I walked to class. He **still **didn't speak until I was in my seat and he leaned on the desktop, trying to look casual and laid-back like a certain person I knew. As always, I felt Soul's wavelength close by, the waves of subdued rage I felt were probably only an invention of my imagination.

"So," said Kilik, awkwardly, glancing at Soul and I interchangeably, "Jackie asked me to the spring dance."

"That's great." I said flatly, not having to pretend that the manga in my hands was more interesting than his face. "I hope you two have a lot of fun."

"Well…" He floundered as my apathy clearly cut into his hopes. "I told her that I had to think about it."

"Are you stupid?" I let disapproval color my tone, but I was glad he hadn't directly declined her invitation.

"I was wondering if-if you might be planning to ask me." He looked to the floor quickly. "Or something."

I was full into 'tsun tsun' mode. "Nope." The ice-cold clarity of my tone threw an axe into his heart from the look of his face.

"You already asked someone?" Did Soul notice how Kilik's eyes flickered in his direction? From his wavelength's reaction alone I would say that was a 'yes'.

"No," I said. "I'm not going at all."

"Why not?" Kilik demanded, sounding more hurt than angry. To be clear, I didn't want to get into the safety hazards that dancing presented, and to explain that lame reason would be embarrassing, so...

"I'm going on a mission with Soul," I explained.

From the corner of my eye I could see Soul's eyes widen, but he said nothing and did not move.

"Oh, ok," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk back to his seat. I closed my eyes and sighed. Thankfully Professor Stein had begun talking. I breathed in deeply and opened my eyes. Soul was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar look of jealousy(?) now in his red eyes.

I stared back, surprised, expecting him to quickly look away as he usually did. Instead he continued to look into my eyes. Looking away didn't seem like an option. My hands started to shake, so I held them entwined my fingers and tried to calm down my heart.

"Mr. Evans?" the sadistic teacher called, asking for the answer to the question. A question that I obviously hadn't heard. The typical thing, actually.

"The Resonance Rate," Soul answered, reluctantly making eye-contact with the bespectacled bastard Professor. I looked down at my textbook, trying to find my place. The words seemed to all spell out his name over and over. My eyes were playing tricks on me, I knew, but it wasn't without reason. I couldn't believe emotions that ebbed through me — just because we'd had a successful mission in addition to using Soul Resonance twice. I couldn't allow him to have this level of influence over me. I was the Meister in our relationship, he was the Weapon. Things weren't supposed to work this way. My reactions were pathetic, and I should feel bad about that.

More than pathetic, it was pitiable.

When the bell rang at last, I turned my back to him to gather my things, expecting him to leave immediately as usual, for he had a habit of not sticking around that often saddened me somewhat.

Today was different for some reason.

"Sarah?" His voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than for just the couple of weeks I'd been here. I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew I was about to. My face was falsely cheery when I finally turned to him, but his expression was completely unreadable. He said nothing. It was then I realized that we were alone in the room; Professor Stein had slipped away somewhere when I had been distracted.

Ah, what am I saying? I was distracted the whole lesson!

"What is it, Soul? Is it about the mission?" I asked, a strange innocence about the words.

His lips twitched, unknown if he was fighting a smile or a frown.

"Ah, not really," he admitted slowly, scratching his hair.

"Then what do you want?" I said, keeping my books close to my chest.

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude by being so distant, I know. But it's better this way, really." About this fact Soul was serious.

"I don't really understand," I said, my voice sounding like it was in between sobs.

"I know that we're Partners and all, but it's better if we're not _friends_," he explained. "Trust me."

"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."

"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught him off guard. "Regret for what?"

"For me not just letting that stupid van squish us to death."

He stared at me in disbelief. For a few moments he was too shocked to speak. When he finally did, he was mad. "You think I regret you saving my life?"

"I _know _you do," I snapped. I also realized how crazy that sounded, but I couldn't care less.

A dark, contemplative look fell over his face. "You don't know anything."

I couldn't take it anymore, that depressing, sad look was too much. Such a boy shouldn't wear an expression like that. Why was I pestering him so much with that petty subject again? The past is past. "…thank you," I said, my heart throbbing in pain.

He blinked. "For what?" His voice was soft and full of surprise.

"For holding me the other night…when I couldn't stop crying."

I turned away from him and ran, pushing past a single person in the doorway and headed off to Gym without looking back.

To be honest, after that draining exchange of words, Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Soul and the feeling of his wavelength. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but he kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed to balance and concentrate.

I almost had a stroke when I rounded the corner and saw a tall, dark figure leaning against the side of the building, waiting for me on my usual route from the main school building. Then I realized it was just Kid and I started walking again.

"Hey, Kid," I called.

"Hi, Sarah."

"What's up?" I said as I continued to stroll. I wasn't paying attention too much to him, so his next words were especially surprising.

"I was just wondering if you would go to the spring dance with me?"

"I-I-I-I-I thought it was girls' choice," I said, flustered enough to stammer. I couldn't even understand why I kept on being asked.

"It is," he admitted calmly. Both the asking and this newest confession of the facts were delivered without any trace of nervousness. I was impressed. But I still had to decline.

Kid walked away as if he were strolling through the park.

Soul walked past, looking straight ahead with his hands in his pockets. Driving up beside me, Ox Ford was in his recently acquired used Honda Odyssey. I was too irritated with this latest proposal to even wave.

"I'm sorry, Ox, not interested." I was annoyed — why did boys have to be so straightforward?

"Oh, really? Because I wanted to ask you to ask me to the spring dance." he continued as if I hadn't said anything at all.

"I'm not going to be in town, Ox." I wished my voice would slice him to shreds from its sharpness.

"Kilik told me that," he admitted.

"Then —"

Ox smiled rather confidently. "I hoped you were just letting him down easy." Okay, this was going too far. Just what the hell about me was so appealing that made _every single male_ I'd met so far want to ask me out? What? Do I smell like candy? Do I look easy? What?

For some reason my face refused to show the true anger that I was feeling. Most likely I merely looked irritated beyond reason. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Ox," I said, dark thoughts rising to the surface of my mind. "But I really am going out of town."

"That's cool. We still have prom."

Before I could protest the impossible chances of that ever happening within the millenia, he drove away.

Muttering to myself obscenities, I walked home slowly, contemplating the many ways to dismember men in general.

* * *

...

* * *

When I got home, Spirit wasn't there but Maka had already made tacos for dinner. A favourite of mine, but I couldn't concentrate on the food. My head was still running in circles, trying to understand my conversation with Soul today. What did he mean; it was better if we weren't friends?

I bit into the crunchy corn tortilla but nearly choked on the contents of my mouth when it finally clicked. My face burned as I suddenly realized what he must have meant. He must have noticed how obsessed I already had become with him; and if that was true, taking into consideration the tone of his voice…he wasn't interested in the least. Not even being friends would distance us even further from one another.

'_Of course he wasn't interested in me_,' I thought, '_you'd have to be interesting for someone to be interested, wouldn't you?_'

Well, fine. I would leave him alone. Some other Weapon could be my partner. Maybe some of the students coming in next year would be _interested._ I spooned a mountain of sour cream onto my plate, followed by a waterfall of taco sauce. I wasn't really paying attention, so it was expected. More ingredients for a taco were piled onto my plate, and I set to work on finishing it.

Eating when I was upset was a usual practice of mine, but it didn't surprise me that Maka and Uncle Death Scythe were concerned. It probably wasn't all that healthy, either.

"Sarah?" asked Maka when I was almost done. Her green eyes were wide with….disgust, maybe?

"Yeah, Maka?" I said in between crunches. The flavors helped take the anxiety away, and I relaxed considerably.

She tapped the plate with her fork nervously."Um, I just wanted you to know that I'm going to Italy for a mission…" She looked up from her food with a slight blush on her face. "…if that's okay?" It sounded strange. As if she meant to omit some words. To behonest it sounded like she was asking me out, too.

"Huh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, okay."

"I was wondering if you and Soul wanted to come."

"What."

"W-w-well, I didn't want to go alone," she began babbling, "but Black*Star was going to the dance with Tsubaki that night, and..." I stared, dumbfounded. She clapped her hands together. "Please, I'd like for Sarah-chan and Soul-kun to accompany me."

"Oh, okay." I said, though I was still angry at Soul for little to no reason, I needed to make up with him soon. Besides, I didn't want to look like a liar in front of the guys, so I guess this was my redeeming opportunity.

"Thanks." She smiled at me with a mouth of dazzling set of pearls.

* * *

The next morning, when I walked into the parking lot, Soul was right near the entrance to the school, leaning casually against his motorbike parked near the curb.

"How do you _do _that?" I asked, observing his pose. From the time I spotted him in the distance it looked like he hadn't moved a single centimeter.

He seemed confused. "Do what?"

"Stand so still for so long," I explained with a breathy sigh.

"Sarah, it's not my fault if you're ADHD." His voice was quiet as usual — velvet, muted.

I scowled at his rougish face. His eyes were light again today, a deep, carmine color. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.

I huffed, still looking away. "I thought you weren't supposed to be my friend."

He mused over my defensive statement. "People who aren't friends talk all the time," Soul pointed out. "That's high school."

I said nothing, but continued to look away. He made a 'hmmmm'ing noise.

"Ox is really determend to take you out, isn't he?" Soul snickered.

"You…" I gasped, shooting venom at him through my eyes. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. Maybe if I said it in Japanese? _'TEMEE~!' _No, that would just make me sound stupid.

"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," he continued.

"So you'retrying to irritate me to death instead "

"Sarah, you are insane," he said, his low voice cold.

I turned my back and started to walk away.

"Wait," he called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But he was next to me, easily keeping pace.

I sighed. "Fine then. What do you want?" I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.

"I wanted to know if tomorrow we could hang out for a bit." He paused then blushed slightly pink, scratching his hair. "I mean, so we could practice Soul Resonance or something."

"Honestly, Soul." The comment tacked on at the end was rather awkward. "I thought you didn't want to be my friend?"

"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, thanks, now that's _all _cleared up."

"It would be more… _virtuous _for you not to be my friend," he explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Sarah. Especially since we are partners after all."

Virtuous? Really? I mean...the implications that came with that word were…

I felt another blush spreading to my cheeks.

"So…the day of the dance…will you go with me on that mission you made up?" he asked, his face pensive at the thought. I nodded. He smiled briefly, and then his face became serious. "You really _should _stay away from me," he warned in a playful tone. He turned to run away, looking back and waving as he did. "I'll see you in class."

I waved back, my heart fluttering like a hummingbird on speed.


End file.
